Fall Clean-up in the garden

The last week I've been concentrating on Fall clean up in the garden. It is kind of sad pulling up dead and dying annual flowers, removing the moon flower vine from the arbor, and cutting back an overgrown vine. Fall garden chores also included relocating my limelight hydrangea, and planting 3 azaleas purchased earlier this year. I also started a new compost pile in one of my 2 compost bins.

There are many pretty colors provided by the maples, blueberries, crape myrtles, dogwoods and Virginia Sweetspire as I work in the garden. When the leaves fall they need raking, unless like me you put down a pre-emergent. Raking can break the weed-shield provided by the pre-emergent. My husband mulched and bagged the leaves so I could add them to the compost pile I started. In a compost pile, the natural process of decomposition is sped up and you are left with a rich form of organic matter for your flower bed or vegetable patch. Compost also helps soil retain water.

In fact, autumn is a great time to make compost since there is a good mix of leaves, some spent plants and grass clippings. This means you will have a combination of carbon (leaves and other “brown” material) and nitrogen (grass clippings and other “green” material), which produces compost quickly. Keep the pile moist and turn it often, and you will have compost to use in your garden come spring. Or just leave it alone to decompose slowly.Don't compost any diseased plant material.

Some of my garden clean up will go on a brush pile. It will provide winter quarters for lizards, frogs, toads and small mammals such as chipmunks and rabbits, as well as bumblebees and other native bees. The leaves and other dead vegetation are like a “down comforter” for winter wildlife. You can Start your own brush pile with a layer of loosely stacked or crisscrossed branches, and add stalks and leaves on top.

When autumn approaches, I stop removing some spent flowers and let them to go to seed and only remove diseased plant parts and leave the rest standing in some areas of the garden. I don't like the sight of brown stems but like to leave some of them as cozy winter nests for wildlife. Lady beetles, butterflies and other insects will bed down among the stalks during the cold season. Siskins and other birds will dine on the seeds of sunflowers, cone flowers, grasses and other plants.

Using these clean up ideas will not only produce less of the waste clogging up landfills, you also will protect your plants and enrich your soil, while providing a winter welcome mat for wildlife.

Some Quick Gardening Tips for Fall

Now with cooler temperatures coming to the Lowcountry I can finally get back outside to do some gardening and landscaping. Here are just a few things I will be doing this fall. What is on your to do list for Fall?

Vegetables- Now is the time to clean up the summer garden. Many pests and diseases over-winter in old plant debris. Get it out of your garden and into the compost pile, as long as it is not diseased. Otherwise, have it removed from your property. I’m growing a few cool-season crops right now such a radish, spinach and lettuce. Most cool-season crops can handle cooler temperatures than you might imagine, and many taste even better after a few light frosts. If you've never had a fall vegetable garden, you're missing a real treat.

Landscape-Fall is absolutely the best time of year to plant any tree and /or shrub. The soil is still warm enough for roots to actively grow and yet the demand on foliage growth is waning. Trees and shrubs planted now have months to develop a healthy root system before the heat of next year. Be sure to keep your new plants watered. The drying winds of the cooler weather can quickly dehydrate plants. Check the soil moisture often, and water when needed. For new plantings, provide water once a week in the absence of rain.

Organic Gardening-Don't waste those fallen leaves. Dump the leaves onto the grass, and run your mower over them. This shreds them into small pieces, can be raked into beds. They break down rather quickly and are a very good way to add organic amendments planting beds. They also pull double-duty, serving as that important layer of mulch over the winter.

Flower Gardening-Plant those bulbs, in cooler climates, plant in October. In southern climates, the best time for bulb planting is November. Tulips, daffodils, crocus, iris and hyacinths are all great choices for spring color. This is also the ideal time to divide perennials and plant perennial seeds for next spring.


This will keep me busy for the next few weeks, how about you? The best part is that next spring, I will be rewarded with a garden that comes alive, looking better than ever and due in large part to the work I do this Fall.

Summer Yard Chores

In the south August is a cruel month, Hot, Humid and Hazy and it just wears me down! But I can't give up, I must not give up! Every weed pulled now prevents many more in the future, letting them go to seed makes for bigger problems later! But there is much more to do in August. A weekly walk through the garden helps identify problem areas.

WATERING: Lack of rain in August (so far) has not been a problem this year. As things dry out from the daily rains I will need to watch plants like my hydrangea in case they get too dry. The real problem for me now is plants like my succulents that received too much rain!

DEADHEADING: By deadheading perennials, annuals and blubsr now I may get a fresh flush of blooms when our weather turns a little cooler. Later in the fall I'll leave some seed-heads for birds or to collect seeds for next year. I cut perennials like Guara back pretty hard and still get more blooms.

RE-EDGE BEDS: I like to clean-up the edges of my flowerbeds at least twice a year, making a clean line to define them. Then my husband Jim can the keep edges clean with regular fine-tuning with our weed-eater.

PRUNING- Selective pruning of out of control vine is at the top of my to do list. Carolina jessamine, cross vine, and jasmine are the big ones needing attention after our hot, wet weather. A few shrubs have had growth spurts as well and need some light pruning.

REPOT: I like to change my pots (Hanging & ground) at least seasonally. My front porch petunias were replace with Moss Roses as soon as temperatures reach 90 degrees, but I hadn't rescued my hanging strawberries in the arbor. So yesterday I moved the strawberries to a raised bed and replanted the pots with Potato vine.

LAWN- We have a warm season grass- Centipede and mid-August is the time for a final fertilization for the grass this year. I'll need to apply a post emergence herbicide as I try to control a "spotted Spurge " takeover of my front yard. This is also time to check for white grubs, spittlebugs, mole crickets, and others; though they have not been a problem for me so far this year.

And if I can get all of this list done I could prepare my garden bed for a fall garden, replant my herbs, take cuttings to overwinter plant in my greenhouse.

April Gardening Tips for the South

Spring is well underway in the South. Here are some gardening tips to make the most of the season's cooler days in your yard.

Plant container grown perennials: Remember to prepare your planting area by adding compost to enhance nutrition and improve moisture holding ability. Once planted don't forget to water while plants settle into their new homes.

Choose perennials that will give a strong performance in late summer, when Southern gardens tend to fade. Great selections include salvias.

Scarlet or Texas Sage (Salvia coccinea)
Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans)
Mealycup Sage (Salvia farinacea):
Mexican Bush Sage
Bedding Sage (Salvia splendens)
Azure Sage (Salvia azurea var. grandiflora)
Cleveland Blue Sage (Salvia clevelandii)
Peruvian Sage (Salvia discolor)
Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii)
Brazilian Blue Sage (Salvia guaranitica)
Salvia 'Indigo Spires'
Silver Sage (also known as silver clary or silver clary sage)
Common sage (Salvia officinalis)

Vegetable gardening

Keep sowing seeds of lettuces and garden greens weekly to ensure a long harvest season. Sow seeds of heat-tolerant greens to extend the harvest window. Give greens afternoon shade for best growth. Some heat tollerent choices include 'Jericho' (romaine), 'Buttercrunch' (butterhead), 'Lolla Rossa' (looseleaf red), 'Black-Seeded Simpson' (looseleaf green), and oakleaf types. Malabar spinach also thrives in summer heat.

Seeds
Continue direct sowing seeds of beans, squash, melons and okra. If cutworms are a problem, put collars around seedlings using recycled household items: canned food tins with bottom lids removed or toil tissue tubes cut in half.

Garden tasks

Azaleas
If needed, prune azaleas immediately after flowering. Make cuts to shape shrubs or remove any damaged branches.

Mulch
Replace mulch around azaleas, camellias, and roses. If you suspected or battled diseases and insects with these crops last season, remove and replace mulch to eliminate any hibernating insects or spores. If disease and insects haven't been an issue, simply replenish the mulch. Refresh mulch on planting beds. If you have pine trees, gather free mulch: pine straw. It looks great around shrubs and on flowerbeds.

Tropical Plants
Move over wintered tropicals outdoors when night temperatures remain above 50F. Tuck tropicals into a shady spot and fertilize with an all-purpose fertilizer to jump-start growth. You can also remove the top inch or two of soil and add a layer of compost to boost growth


It's Time for Tubers
Over wintered caladium tubers emerge this month in the warmest parts of the South. In areas where caladiums are annuals, tuck new or stored tubers into the ground. Plant 2-3 inches deep.
Add cannas to your garden for a striking foliage show. They look great with under-plantings of asparagus fern or sweet potato vine.

Lawn care
Grass is growing in earnest now. Time mowings so you're removing only one-third of total blade growth. Follow this guide to mowing height.
Zoysia: 1/2 inch
Bermudagrass: 1/2 inch
St. Augustinegrass: 2 inches
Tall fescue: 2-1/2 inches
Sharpen your mower blade frequently. A sharp blade makes clean cuts, while a dull one tears grass blades. A torn blade provides an entry point for disease.