Friday, September 22, 2006
Getting ready for winter
Libba Wolfe
Libba Wolfe's column appears twice monthly in Extra.
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I was addicted to the Weather Channel long before I started gardening. The 10-day forecast helps me plan, among other things, my menus.
At our house, chicken salad is a sunny-day meal. I like soup and warm cookies on chilly, rainy days. And when I see snow on the way, it's time for the cast-iron pot and something that simmers all day.
Yardwork means paying even closer attention to the weather -- for all the good it does me. After weeks of delaying a fence-painting project because of a 30 percent chance of rain (and a drop never fell), we finally got two days with no rain in the forecast. I got my equipment organized the night before so I could get an early start. It was raining when I woke up.
I could have caught up with some house cleaning, but I took off for a day of plant shopping. I was looking for trees and shrubs, but I got sidetracked right away by the sales tables.
I picked up a few marked-down annuals to refresh some containers that burned up in August. A light trimming and they'll thrive in the six weeks before our first frost.
I found perennial treasures on sale. Certainly past their prime and looking mighty scraggly. But trimmed and planted now they'll be great next year.
What I'm shopping for is good roots. I visit reputable nurseries where I'm sure the pots didn't sit, unwatered and baking, on asphalt through August. The roots on plants that are pot-bound need to be chopped and loosened before going in the ground. A good drink of water and they'll be fine.
What about the roots already in the ground? Overgrown, crowded perennials and day lilies don't bloom like they should. Garden books usually have a page of pictures demonstrating the special tools and careful process for digging up and dividing plants. I talked to two expert, experienced gardeners last week.
They both said, "Dig 'em up, chop 'em apart." Use whatever works -- your hands, a hoe, an ax. Replant. Share with a friend. My kind of gardening advice.
I found three overgrown gallon pots of the groundcover selaginella on a bargain table. With a pair of scissors I cut each pot into eight or 10 sections with plenty of roots on each one. They'll have time to get established before winter. Filling in the bare spots on a long border for 12 bucks -- not bad.
This is the perfect weather for planting trees, shrubs and perennials. But it's not the time to fertilize. When winter arrives you want the roots settled in but not in a stage of active growth. How would you like a shot of espresso as you turned in for the night? Save the fertilizer for early spring when it's time to rise and shine.
The plants that are hardy here are hardy because of the cold -- not in spite of it. I just learned the year-after-year spring show of daffodils we take for granted is almost impossible in the Deep South. The bulbs, trees, shrubs and perennials we count on to perform well require a long, cold sleep to thrive.
I killed two nice shrubs in my front foundation planting before I realized what was wrong. The dryer vent blew hot air on them all winter. They went through endless freeze and thaw cycles. I'm still struggling with that bare spot. If you have any ideas -- besides sending the laundry out -- please let me know.
Mulch is a blanket to keep the plants cold -- not to keep them warm, as I mistakenly believed. So I'll save that chore till last. That gives me a horticultural excuse to procrastinate on the leaf raking since I use chopped leaves to mulch.
In the meantime, there's plenty to do. More nursery hopping, bulb planting, cutting back worn-out plants, cleaning out the borders. The mornings are sweat shirt cool and the ground isn't baked to cement. What a pleasure.
I'll keep tabs on the weather forecast. Even if we have a dry spell, watering won't be such a sweaty chore. It can't be long until beef stew and flannel. And I have got to get that fence painted.
