Preparing your garden for winter

If you did any planting this year around your home during the spring or summer, spend a few minutes to prepare your new plants for the seasonal changes of winter. All I want you to do is walk around your property for a final inspection and make sure the plants are ready for winter. Use this quick checklist of suggestions that has helped me with my plants over the years.

I start with the lawn and always look for potential problems with moles. If you had a lot of Japanese beetles in your garden this summer you have a better chance of having moles. You will notice raised mounds or raised tunnels running near the surface of the grass. When you step on them they flatten easily, letting you know that the tunnels are actively being used by the mole. Most of these tunnels will be found at this time of the year near areas of your property where tall grasses are growing, near wooded areas, near large mulched planting beds or near walkways and driveways. The moles spend the summer months hiding in these protected areas from predators but as the season changes they move out into the lawn and start digging the tunnels in search for food for the winter.

Once the ground is cold, frozen, and covered with snow they become a digging machine and can destroy your well-kept lawn over the winter, especially if we have an early snow cover. If you find tunnels or mounds act NOW by treating the area with a product like Everguard all purpose animal repellent  or Bonide MoleMax. These product are not a poison; keeping the lawn safe for your pets and family, they are repellents and will halt the moles' movement into the middle of your lawn where they can make major damage to your lawn. Knowing this, you only have to treat the perimeter of your lawn around the edges with a 10 to 15 foot band, not the entire lawn, and that will save you money.

If you planted new evergreen ground covers like English ivy, pachysandra, or myrtle/vinca I would suggest that you spray them with an anti-desiccant for the first winter. This will help lock moisture inside the plant and prevent wind damage and sunburn, as these plants are young and possibly not fully established yet. When you figure out the time it took you to prepare the planting area, planting of the ground covers, and the cost of the plants it is well worth the few dollars it will cost to protect your investment--good insurance. A product like Wilt-Pruf or Wilt-Stop can be purchased at your local garden center in a ready-to-use sprayer for small areas or in concentrates for large planting beds. Start off next spring with healthy green plants and avoid filling in the holes where plants died during the winter.

If you planted a row of arborvitae to create a privacy or noise barrier this year, purchase a ball of green string and tie up your plants to prevent snow or Ice damage. Just tie one end of the string to a branch a couple feet above the ground and walk around the plant wrapping the string in a corkscrew pattern around the plant until you get three quarters up the plant. Pull the foliage together as you wrap and this will keep the young and not mature branches protected from damage. Arborvitaes are multi-stem plants and heavy, wet snow or ice can split them apart until the plant has matured. If you live in an area where Deer are found, I would add the new Everguard deer repellent to your planting to protect them. If food becomes scarce and the snow gets deep, deer LOVE arborvitae, and--again--a bit of insurance can save your plants from being eaten. They're young, tender and tasty and for a couple of dollars you can save a plants that cost over $25.00 each. Think for the long term; each year they grow they become stronger, larger and more valuable.

Newly planted broadleaf evergreens like holly, rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, and boxwood should also be treated with an anti-desiccant spray for the first year--especially if they are in a planting bed that receives a lot of sun during the winter months. When you planted the shrub, and if it was cared for properly will determine if the plant had enough time to become fully established in your garden before winter arrived. Sun and wind create the problem with new plants the first winter, and if the roots are not fully established and the plants ready you will have damage. If you planted azaleas, be sure to spray the flower buds on the tip of the branches to protect them and insure flowers next spring. Again, a bit of insurance now can go a long way next spring.

If you planted a new tree that is over six feet tall and it is in an open area of your lawn, purchase a staking kit and tie down the tree so it will not move or blow over with the wet and stormy weather ahead of us. Your main goal is to keep the plant root ball from moving and hurting the newly developing root system. If that tree is a fruit tree or flowering tree, also wrap the trunk from the ground to the first branch with a tree guard or hardware cloth wire to prevent rodent damage. The bark is tender and has not hardened off yet, so it is vulnerable to being eaten by rodents during the first couple of winters. Also be sure that there is a covering of three inches of bark mulch around the base of the tree to help keep the soil frozen during the winter. Exposed soil will freeze and thaw during the winter, damaging the root system of the new tree.

In your perennial flower beds, be sure to cut back to the ground all plants that have turned yellow or brown and rake the garden clean. This fall clean-up will remove insect eggs and disease spores left on the plants for next year. Insects and disease ALWAYS plan for the next year in the fall, so they can continue to survive from year to year in your garden. This is also a great time to apply limestone or Magic-Cal to sweeten the soil and keep the plant productive. Acid soil will slow down the development of your plants in the garden and produce fewer flower buds.

The vegetable garden should also be cleaned of all dead plants, and lime the soil to prevent blossom end rot on your tomatoes and squash plants for next year. Blossom end rot is a rotting on the underside of the tomato fruit or the tip of the squash and is caused by lack of calcium in the soil. Use lime at the rate of 50 pounds per 500 sq. ft. of garden. If you live near the seashore, go to the beach and collect the seaweed that washes ashore at the beach and spread it over your garden for the winter. Seaweed is full of stored energy and contains everything your plant will need to grow better next spring. Seaweed is a wonderful soil conditioner and better than peat moss for your garden soil. Just spread it over the garden now and till it in next spring when you get ready to plant the garden.

One last thing is to mow the grass down to 2 inches tall when it stops growing. This will prevent winter diseases that can be a problem if your soils have clay in them or you tend to have puddles that form during wet weather in the growing season. Tall grass will mat down--and if we have a winter with heavy snow and ice on the lawn that lasts well into the spring, you could have a problem. Sandy soils are not a problem but keep the grass short for the winter to avoid problems. If moss is visible, lime the lawn now so it has time to sweeten the soil before spring arrives. Did you know that crabgrass and common lawn weeds have a more difficult time growing in your lawn if the soil is sweet than when the soil is on the acid side? Also, the grass can grow thicker and the fertilizer you apply becomes more effective, so lime the lawn in the fall. Any leaves or pine needles should be chopped up by your lawn mower and will turn into great organic matter to help improve your soil as they break down during the winter. So don't rake the leaves--chop them up and make your soil better for next year.

" As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. "

John F. Kennedy

                                   

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread If you like Pumpkin bread but want a bit more flavor from it, than let's add chocolate chips.  Bread is not usually dessert but try this bread at the end of a meal as a sweet ending to your meal with a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate.    Ingredients:  1 ½ cups of canned unsweetened pumpkin meat or fresh pumpkin cooked in your microwave until soft, mashed until it has the consistency of mash potatoes.  4 eggs  1 ¾ cups of sugar  3 cups of all purpose flour  1 cup of vegetable oil 2 teaspoons of baking powder  1 teaspoon of baking soda  1 teaspoon of ground ginger  1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon  1 teaspoon of salt  ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg  2 cups of chopped walnuts or pecans  ½ cup of dried cranberries {optional}  2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips   Directions:  1} preheat your oven to 350 degrees   2}Whisk the eggs, sugar, pumpkin meat, and the oil in a large bowl until well blended   3}Sift your flour   baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg into the pumpkin mixture. Fold in the chopped nuts, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips.   4} Divide the batter between the two greased 8 inch by 4-inch bread pans.  Bake for 75 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.   Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely before slicing.  Serve with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream on the side. This bread can be made now and frozen for the approaching holidays. Double wrap with cling free plastic wrap and then into a freezer bag until you're ready to use, Enjoy!

Days to look forward

Friday, November 11 - Veterans Day

Sunday, November 13 - World Kindness Day

Thursday, November 17- Homemade Bread Day

Thursday, November 24 - Thanksgiving Day