October (early October) Garden Talks

Hello again,

It is time for some early October Garden Talks in Skillin's Country. We Know gardening and here are some great tips. Check back often as we will be adding to this post over the next few days.

*Fall is a great time for planting shrubs, trees and perennials. The ground is still warm, yet the air in Skillin's Country is cooling, and that makes a great combination for newly planted material to adjust to! 

*I know that I write about watering endlessly! But fall watering insures plants are not drought stressed and therefore weakened going into the harsh winter. Also plants will actually store water to help compensate for any evaporation that occurs on windy winter days. Evaporation can also be dramatically reduced by spraying broad-leafed evergreens like rhododendrons with WILT-PRUF. Finally moisture that is in the ground from fall watering will be used by your plants in the Spring--this gets your plants off to a Spring head start!

*October is a great month to trim many perennials back to the ground--especially focus on all dead (yellow and brown) growth. Also the ground is usually moist this time of year. Pull on some old pants and get those knees dirty and pull some weeds. The moist ground makes for easy pulling! 

*As the month progresses, clean your perennial beds of weeds (as I just discussed) and also rake out any plant and other debris. Then you will have nice clean open beds and I use this opportunity to lay some Espoma Flower Tone or Plant Tone around my perennials. This natural or organic feeding will work to enrich the soil through the remainder of the fall and will leave a better soil situation with some nice nutrients for when your plants fully awaken in the Spring. I also lay some compost down around my plants. This is a great of way long-term investing in your soil. Fall is a great time for this as the weather is often spectacular in Skillin's Country and this means less to do in the busy Spring.

*It is nearly time to store our summer flowering bulbs such as tuberous begonias, dahlias and gladiolas for the winter. Unfortunately these lovely bulbs cannot survive our winters outdoors in the garden.

After a truly hard frost has knocked the life out of the foliage of these bulbs, I dig them carefully out of the ground. You will be amazed at the growth your bulbs have put on over the summer! Cut the foliage away from the bulbs (such foliage makes great compost!) and knock as much soil as possible off the bulbs. Let them sit for a couple of days on your porch or deck until all the soil can be easily rubbed off.

Dahlias and glads in particular will have added to the parent bulbs over the summer. By that I mean that the dahlia tubers will have added new tubers and the gladiola corms will have added new corms to the parent corm. Feel free to break off these new additions; they will mean more plants next year! Tuberous begonias will have almost doubled in size. There is really nothing to divide but in a situation where you may have had 4 or 5 begonia tubers in one container for 2011 this means for 2012 in the same container you can probably have 3 begonia tubers and still have the same showy look. This means more containers of beautiful tuberous begonias next year.

Winter storage of these bulbs should have 3 goals:

 (1)   Treat the bulbs for any mildew or little bugs they might have now. Bulbs are living creatures; mildew can reside on them or tiny bugs called thrips can also call your bulbs home. We recommend a product called all natural Garden Dust by Bonide. I put some  dust in a plastic bag and place some bulbs in that bag. Close the bag and shake it well; this dust will cover the bulbs and help get rid of mildew and pesky little bugs such as thrips.

(2)   Prevent the bulbs from freezing. The bulbs should be stored in a situation where the winter temperatures are cool—between 40 and 50 degrees. I have an unheated crawl space under my house that works well. Most people have heated basements that may well be too warm. I have heard of people digging a hole about 18” deep outside next to their foundation where the temperature hovers just above the freezing mark.(I have not tried this method myself).  Some people have cool basement corners and store their bulbs against the cool basement walls.

(3)   Prevent the bulbs from dehydrating. I store my bulbs nestled in some loose good quality potting soil or peat moss in the same plastic bags that I shook them with the Garden Dust. Once I have the bulbs snuggled in with the soil or peat moss, I tie up the bag and wish them a good winter’s sleep. A "zip loc" baggie works great as well!

In late February, it will be time to wake the tuberous begonias and pot them in fresh soil. They will have to stay indoors near a sunny window until the danger of hard frost is past in the Spring. “Ditto” for the dahlias except I would plan on starting them in early March. The glads can be started indoors in mid April.

*October to late November is THE time to plant Spring flowering bulbs such as tulips, daffodils and crocus. Daffodils are a Must Have--they are as hardy as can be and their yellows and whites are brilliant. Plus they are not a choice of deer or other roaming and munching garden plundereres. Crocus and snowdrops can be planted in a south facing spot and bring bright touches of color as early as mid to late March depending on the spot.

These bulbs can be planted later than early November too. So if you "forget" to plant your bulbs and find them in a bag indoors on Thanksgiving afternoon--don't stress. (Don't plant that day either; have another piece of pie and watch some football). I picked to mid November because it is usually colder after mid November. Just bundle up!!

*Margaret of A Way to Garden maintains a superior gardening site that I check in on often. *She gives a great tip here about vegetable gardening: "PREPARE A SEEDBED NOW for peas and spinach for next spring, to get a headstart on such early crops. Spinach can even be sown now through Thanksgiving, even in the north, and covered with fabric for super-early spring harvest; not the peas, of course."

     *We talk a great deal about garden cleanup these days and for good reason. In most cases we recommend to compost what we clean out of the garden. Margaret points out with vegetable and annual plants that get pulled out: "before composting the remains, cut them up a bit with a pruning shears or shred, to speed decomposition. I sometimes just run piles of dry things over with the mower (nothing too woody or you’ll wreck your blade, of course)."

*We hope you have had a great tomato year! But your tomato plants and leaves should be thoroughly raked up, picked up and trashed. Tomato plants carry too much blight to be worth your compost pile.

*Have many green tomatoes and worrying about them ripening--especially with cold weather coming to Skillin's Country? Click HERE for some good tips on what to do with your tomatoes with cold weather approaching.

Mike Skillin

Skillin's Greenhouses

October 3, 2012

Tucking Perennials in for the Winter

From the folks at Botanical Interests:  (a few comments by me in italics)

"You may have nestled your dormant vegetable beds down for a good winter's sleep with a nice blanket of mulch. But, don't forget your perennial flowers and herbs!


If you live in an area with hard frost, you should wait to mulch your perennials until after the ground freezes (typically after several hard frosts and when the soil is impenetrable by a shovel). To get them through the winter, the goal is to mulch them to retain some moisture around the roots and prevent upheaval from the soil from fluctuating freeze/thaw cycles. A few inches of shredded leaves or bark, weed-free grass clippings, straw, or evergreen boughs will tuck them in nicely until spring. The exact best time to do this mulching can really vary in Skillin's Country. I would say we are looking at a couple of more weeks before the ground "binds up" enough to be worthy of mulching.

Some gardeners like to tidy their garden up in fall, cutting back all dead or declining perennial foliage. There may be an aesthetic to that, but consider the benefits of leaving at least some of the stalks and seed heads intact. If you live in an area that gets snow, the stalks can help trap snow at the crown, insulating it and providing moisture as it melts. Also, many flower seed heads provide food for birds through the winter. I know, I know many of you want to trim those gardens all the way back. But Botanical Interests really gives some good reasons to wait on cutting back some of your material.

If have really dry winters with infrequent rain or snow, you can increase the chances for your perennials to survive if you give them a little water once or twice a month during warmer days. (Watercress is one perennial variety that definitely needs supplemental water to survive.)

Do you have perennials in containers? Cluster them in a sheltered area and add a little mulch on top. If the plants are hardy in your zone, the most common thing that damages them during the winter isn't extreme cold—it's lack of moisture. So, be sure to give them a little drink on warm winter days. Good advice but in Skillin's Country I almost always recommend planting your perennials in the ground for the winter.

As your caring for your perennial flowers, remember the perennial herbs too. If you have catnip, chives, garlic chives, feverfew, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, mint, mitsuba, oregano, sage, sorrel, thyme, or watercress, they will also benefit from some winter protection. "

Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
November 15, 2010

Beyond the Bloom!

KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family. KCB can also be found at the awesome Finishing Touches website.


The following is the basis for an exciting Beyond the Bloom Class that was held Saturday, April 17 2010 at 2 PM at Skillin's Brunswick, Cumberland and Falmouth.

For a great companion article to this post click here  for a recent piece titled "Foliage takes top billing over flowers in leafy landscapes" by Valle Novak.



Who doesn’t love bright bodacious blossoms? Nevertheless most blooms of our favorite perennials are fleeting. Get the most bang for your buck by incorporating plantings that offer interest long before and after the bloom has blown.


Consider the following for a landscape that offers 4-season interest:



 TEXTURE

o Combine Strap-like spiked leaves with bold broad leaves.

 Daylilies with Heuchera

 Ornamental Grasses with Sedum

o Complement lacy greenery with succulents.

 Hosta or Bergenia with Astilbe or ferns

 Succulent

• Sedum

• Ajuga

 Evergreen - Other than the usual subjects (needle and broadleaf shrubs)

• Astilbe, Heuchera, dianthus, ajuga,

 Lacy

• Ferns, Astilbe, Yarrow and Artemisia

o Tree Bark

 Paperbark Maple

 Birch, Paper or River

 American Beech

 Winter Honeysuckle

 Shag Bark Hickory

 Hornbeam

o LOOK FOR COLORFUL FOLIAGE. Combine Silvers w/burgundy, Neon greens & yellows w/deep green or blue green.

 Silver (these also have the added benefit of ‘glowing’ in the moonlight)

• ‘Snow in Summer’

• Wormwood

• Lambs Ear

• Sea Holly

• Munstead Lavender

 Burgundy-Perennials

• Endless list of heuchera

• Sedums

• Astilbe

• Bugbane

 Variegated

• Perennial Cultivars with variant greens, creams, and yellow foliage increase almost yearly.

o Hosta, Iris, Solomon’s Seal, Obedient Plant

 Other: Japanese & Ghost ferns Silver with Burgundy-a must for any shade/woodland garden.

 Succulent

• Sedum

• Ajuga

 Evergreen - Other than the usual subjects (needle and broadleaf shrubs)

• Astilbe, Heuchera, dianthus, ajuga,

 Lacy

• Ferns, Astilbe, Yarrow and Artemisia

 Fall Color

• Ferns, bloody geranium, grasses, Hosta

 SHRUB-SHRUB CULTIVARS WITH INTERESTING FOLIAGE

• Nine Bark

o Diablo

o Dart’s Gold

o Coppertina

• Black Lace or Black Beauty Sambucus Elderberry

• Weigelia

o Wine & Roses

o Fine Wine

o Red Prince

o My Monet

• Willow

o Hakuro Nishiki Willow

• Hypericum St. John’s Wort

 Berries

• Cotoneaster, Virburnum, Winterberry, Beautyberry. elderberry, Shrub St. Johns Wort

GO BEYOND SIGHT-INCLUDE ALL SENSES.

 Plant a fragrant shrub under a window

o Clethera

o Roses

o Lilacs

o Bugbane (perennial but tall enough to reach a window

 Some ornamental grasses offer a soothing ‘swish’ sound in the breeze.

 Many plants are tactile

o Lambs Ear

o Cone flower ‘cones’

o Creeping Thyme

o Allium

o Lady’s Mantle

New Beds by KCB

KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are proud to tell you that KCB rules as the 2008 Maine Master Gardener of the Year. And we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family.

Wouldn’t be great if we could have the sleep number bed for our garden beds? Simply push a button and the preferred comfort level would appear. Mattresses allow for our comfort and ultimate good health that is brought about by a good night’s sleep. A flower bed allows for the comfort and ultimate good health of the ornamentals and or/vegetable plants we want to enjoy via mouth or site.

Often when I’m improving the look of an existing landscape I subtly change the existing flower bed. A gentle curve, the addition of a few inches or feet often makes a considerable difference. Some of my clients have opted for less lawn, more ornamental plantings. Perhaps a vegetable patch or a kitchen garden to grow herbs. The thought of eliminating sod (grass) to allow for new plantings once intimidated the heck out of me. Not being fond of tilling a small patch of earth, I would dig by hand. The process took several weeks. No longer. It is as if I discovered the fountain of youth.

Recently the Skillin’s garden log offered an excellent instruction on creating a raised bed. I will not duplicate that. I’m talking about a simple garden bed all prepared for planting. Little effort, lots of results. It all stems on one major component….newspaper!

This magical elixir happens to arrive on the coat tails of the shrinking daily news. Gone are the days that you would need to lift weights before attempting to carry home the Sunday Paper. Not to fret, there are plenty of free newsy periodicals to get your hands on.

So, how do these inky pages create new beds? So easy, my friend.

I no longer recycle my papers in the usual way. I also ask clients to begin hording once they have completed the cross word or word game of the day. Glossy or heavily inked print can still be relegated to the recycle bin. Once I only utilized the black and white pages however I have incorporated colored print into my beds.

Step one, mark off the new bed. I’m not known for straight lines so a free form spray of lining spray paint works. A flexible garden hose is also useful. For a more crisp, formal and straight line use string tied to wooden stakes.

Cut through sod with a sharp flat end spade or half-moon edger. I use the spade. Make cuts approximately 4 inches deep at an angle pushing sod toward the inside of the bed. To keep weeds at bay and kill existing grass, lay newspaper strips or whole pages to cover the area that represents the new or expanded bed. I usually over lay 4-5 pages. Wet paper as you go to keep in place. For large areas you may have to work in sections. Top paper with a mixture of bagged loam and organic compost to a depth of 4 inches. Coast of Maine Penobscot blend and Jolly Gardener Top Soil are my bagged material of choice.

Once soil/compost blend is in place water again. Within a day or 2 you may begin to plant. You will be able to cut through newspaper to install any perennials, annuals, shrubs and even bulbs. Over time the newspaper will break down allowing for more plant material to be installed. The bonus is the earth worm activity that will be generated. Time after time I have been totally impressed and puzzled as to how these gardening beneficial beings suddenly appear where once there were none.

I have created countless beds this way. Gone are the days of toiling for hours hand digging clumps of sod or renting a rotatiller I admit, I haven’t used this technique for massive vegetable beds. I’m just pleased it has worked for what I have needed. And sometimes that is the best thing of all…………………

KCB
for Skillin's Greenhouses
June 3, 2009