Oct 10
1
You can’t rest on your garden laurels yet!
It’s time to start cutting back the perennials and pruning the trees. Just like humans, plants need a good trim now and again. Earlier in the fall is better than later, when all the leaves have gone.
It’s also time to start saying goodbye to the annuals. They’ve had their three months in the sun and can be replaced with perennials such as primroses, hellebores or heuchera.
And don’t forget the grass. A healthy lawn doesn’t attract the chafer beetle. Fall aerations, with added topsoil and seeding, are a good idea at the end of September. The temperatures are still warm enough to geminate the seeds, but not too hot to promote weed growth.
And take time to start pressure-washing needles and other lawn droppings before they stain patios; no one’s motivated to haul out a hose when it’s pouring rain.
When the cold rains do come, there is one exquisite plant that doesn’t bed down for the winter: the Witch Hazel. If planted now, its beauty will shine in February.
You can pick one up at your local nursery or plant store.
A Flower For Winter
-You’re not done yet green thumb.
[...] spring. The West Coast showers, that we all love to complain about, will eventually bless us with flowers in our garden. Some of these flowers will bloom for weeks, lasting much longer than our complaints about [...]