Before Winter, There’s Work To Get Done

Last week it hit 34 degrees in Westhampton Beach, so it’s time to start thinking about putting the gardens to bed for the season. Yes, I know, many of you will continue working in your gardens until the ground is frozen, while others threw in the shovel weeks ago. Nonetheless, there are still things to do before winter sets in and if the prognosticators are right it’s going to be another cold and white one.First, take stock. So often we plant something or notice something in the garden and make a mental note that x or y has to be done next year and the old brain just doesn’t file it correctly. This is why I always ask you to keep a garden diary, either in notebook form or on a computer, and to take plenty of pictures that you can search later by the dates they were taken.

I think I do all of the above, and while I wish I had my garden diary on the computer it still hasn’t happened yet.

The pictures, though, are another story. I take pictures of my gardens every week, and since these pictures are all stored on the same place on my computer I can search the shots by date for year to year, month to month, or even week to week comparisons. This is an invaluable tool in helping to adjust plants by height, color, time of bloom or for replacements. You can also use many cellphone cameras to do panoramic shots of your gardens or use stitching software to make panoramas from regular shots.

You shouldn’t be fertilizing anything now, with the possible exception of some deciduous trees that have dropped their leaves. Feeding roses and perennials should have stopped weeks ago, and in Suffolk County, say, you can’t put any fertilizer on your lawn after November 1. Gone are the days of “dormant” lawn feeding and that’s a good thing. Dormant feeding was pushed very hard by the lawn care industry years ago as a way to get a quick green up on your lawn in the spring. The fertilizer was there ready to kick in as soon as the grass was ready, or so we were told. Problem was that much of the fertilizer was being leached into the groundwater and washed off the lawns and into the streets, where it became nothing more than a pollutant.

There’s some critical work to be done in the vegetable garden. One of the prime sources of disease infection in the garden is diseased foliage and fruit that’s left on the ground to decontaminate next year’s garden. All foliage, stems and fruits should be removed and put in a nice hot compost pile. And again, back to the notes issue mentioned earlier … keep track of what vegetables were growing where.

Crop rotation is also critical in controlling both diseases and insects. So know where you planted your various crops such as vine crops, tomatoes, eggplants, radishes and cole crops and move them to a different part of the garden next year. This practice may also help in keeping good soil fertility, as each crop has different nutrient needs and tends to “rob” the soil of these nutrients while others will have differing needs.

Also make a note of how the sun moved over your veggy garden. Did you inadvertently have tall crops on the west or south side of the garden that stole the sun from shorter crops that were behind them? If you composted during the summer and have a good stash of well-rotted compost, this is a perfect time to get it into your veggy garden (or any garden for that matter) and till it into the soil. And if you should happen to have access to any well-rotted cow manure (horse manure is second choice), pile it on and work it in as well.

There’s still a few weeks to do some bulb planting. It’s risky for the earlier-flowering spring bulbs, but not out of the question, and it’s still worth the time to plant any tulips and daffs you may have or still want to buy. Critical in planting all these bulbs is the planting depth. Plant them too deep and they will not only flower too late but the stems may rot in the spring. Plant them too shallow and they may flower too early and be burned by a frost or early freeze.

Daffs are virtually deer-proof, but tulips on the other hand will be dug up and devoured by deer and squirrels. Repellents can be used at planting and this will be effective this year, but next year … no protection. Voles can also be a problem, as I hear more and more about vole damage to bulbs. Want to plant a bulb that no one will eat and will still produce a magnificent flower? Try frittilarias. Their only downside is that, while beautiful, they are not associated with the other pleasantly scented spring bulbs. Great to look at in the garden, not always great in a vase or arrangement.

Want to grow organically grown tulip bulbs? And why in the world would you want to? Check out ecotulips.com for some very interesting answers. I also see that these bulbs may produce flowers that in addition to being better for your environment … actually last longer as cuts. Tender bulbs, tubers and corms should be out of the ground shortly, dried and stored in a cool, dry rodent-free area. Don’t store them in plastic bags or you’ll have nothing but mush come next year, but onion bags and other mesh bags are great.

And as the days and nights get cooler and cooler a number of our outdoor friends are trying harder and harder to become our indoor friends. Mice, voles, shrews and chipmunks will seek shelter in your shed, basement, wood pile and in your home’s walls if they can gain access. Every effort should be made to avoid commercial rodent baits, as they become poisons for other animals in the food chain as an indirect result. Old-fashioned mouse traps work just fine when baited with peanut butter or pieces of apple.

Voles are another matter, though. These animals not only continue to feed all winter, but they reproduce through the winter as well. They’ll feed on bulbs, perennial roots, tree bark as well as left-behind garden goodies. Voles need to be trapped now and brought under control, because once we have snow cover they continue to feed, though we don’t see their damage until spring. Again, mouse traps baited with pieces of apple work best, and the traps should be checked and reset daily. Set the traps at the base of fruit trees, at the garden edge and the edge of the woods.

Power garden equipment, both two-cycle and four-cycle, need to be winterized after their last use. This goes for mini-tillers and chain saws all the way up to garden tractors and lawn mowers. Leaving fuel in the tank without treating (or draining) that fuel and letting the engine run for several minutes to circulate the treated fuel will lead to engines that won’t start next spring. The fuel either has to be completely removed or treated with an additive such as Sta-Bil. If your engine has a fuel shut-off valve you can also close the valve, then run the engine until it dies. You still need to drain the tank, but you’ll also be assured there’s no fuel left to foul the engine.

Also make sure you’ve removed all the debris from the mower deck, and lube any joints or bearings and Zerk fittings to protect these areas from moisture and rust over the winter. We also give our decks a light coating of silicone spray to reduce rusting, but you must be sure that the spray does not get on any drive belts. Collection bags should also be removed and carefully cleaned.

If your equipment has an electric start, the battery should be removed and stored indoors for the winter. It’ll need to be charged every 90 days or so to keep it in top shape and this can easily be done with an inexpensive trickle charger. It may also be a good idea to drop a mothball or two into the engine compartment of your tractor as this will deter mice that love to nest in air filters and engine housings.

So, it’s not over yet. Warm weekends are opportunity weekends and the cold ones are simply a warning. Plenty to do, but keep growing.