Buds and Blooms: To-do list in the garden for fall
By Medicine Hat News on September 29, 2018.
Monica, from John’s Butterfly House, and I have been texting each other about the extra time we have this fall to put our gardens to bed for winter since the Windmill Garden Centre is closed from now until February, when we will be hard at it again. This column is full of my suggestions to help you put your garden to bed. I love my roses in the autumn because they perform better with the cool nights and no more stress from the heat and bugs. Keep pruning back any spent flowers and the young buds will keep blooming! Tidy up the garden by cutting back the perennials and pulling annuals that have finished showing off. Any plants with seed heads, like coneflowers and rudbeckia, should be left for the birds to eat through the winter. They also provide visual interest when snow-covered. Autumn is the best time to divide older perennials like iris, peony, day lily, coneflower and phlox. Perennials can be planted until November so you can replant or share with friends. Pack your gardens now with fall bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, allium and hyacinth for a spring spectacle. Use bulb dust for protection against rot and insects, and bone meal for good root development. You will have a beautiful spring show before the perennials bloom. Be aware: Deer like tulips but don’t like daffodils. You can spray tulips with Bobbex as soon as they poke through the soil. Lift your tender summer bulbs such as dahlias, cannas, begonias and gladiolus. Remove the soil, cut the dead foliage back some, and store in a paper bag in a cool, dry place. Check them through winter to be sure they are not too dehydrated and mist if necessary. A slow release nitrogen fertilizer can be applied to the lawn before the snow flies. Your grass will green up in spring and be more resistant to disease with strong roots. Cut the grass down to two inches at the last mowing to prevent any spring mildew problems. My husband used to spread a layer of nutritious compost over the lawn during the winter for a healthy dark green grass in spring. Empty your clay and terra cotta pots and store them away. Any sturdy winter pots can be adorned with fall and/or winter decorations. Google some ideas. We empty our compost bin onto the flower beds and cover that soil with all the autumn leaves we have raked up. Ladybugs like to take refuge in the leaves from the cold, and we all know ladybugs and their larvae love to eat those pesky aphid pests. This is a great job for children because they love to pounce into the leaf piles beforehand! Pile the compost high around your roses to protect the crown. That snuggly blanket of nutrients is very beneficial for winter temperature protection and it is a great feed for your garden come spring. Extreme cold and freezing winds do damage to shrubs and evergreens in winter. Some appreciate a burlap blankie. To prevent moisture loss you can spray your evergreens with an anti-desiccant (Wiltpruf) before winter. Evergreen leaves dry out and suffer winter wind burn if the fall has been dry so be sure to water well until freeze up. The roots of trees and shrubs especially need a big drink. With Alberta chinooks we do not have a consistent snow cover for protection. Take some photos of your garden so you can watch it grow from the early birth of your spring bulbs to the dazzling display of your zinnias, asters, hydrangeas and burning bush. And if you happen to have a patio rose don’t leave it out over winter. Bev Crawford is the Perennial House Manager at The Windmill Garden Centre and John’s Butterfly House. 13-12
