Fall garden work is in full swing in my yard, thanks to my helpers again! What to do in flower beds can be trickier for new gardeners. Before you start ripping through the garden, be sure you know which plants are annuals and which are perennials. This seems to be a hard term for a lot of people. I often hear “the plants that come back every year?” Think perennial — permanent. Even though many are not entirely permanent, it’s a helpful way to remember.
Some examples of annuals would be zinnia, cosmos, celosia, impatients etc. After a hard frost cut back the herbaceous perennials to just above the crown. Examples would be daylilies, hostas, heliopsis, peonies etc. Some perennials are left in place in the garden for fall and winter interest like sedums, grasses and echinacea’s.
In the spring, some perennials come back very late — so I always cut them back high — leaving plenty of the stems in place for a visual marker in the spring. This is so I don’t accidently plant something else over them. Examples would be asclepias and baptisia.
Garden clean-up can be done in the spring or fall. For me, fall is best when time permits. I would much rather work in fresh debris than slimy rotted plant stuff in the spring. And the best reason — I am soooo happy in the spring when I did all that work the fall before!
What plants do you need to cover? We are now in climate zone 5a, formerly zone 4. Plants that are hardy to zone 5a, means they are hardy without any additional winter protection.
There are however some assumptions made with that: mainly that your plants are established, of a reasonable size, planted at the correct depth, not divided too late in the season, watered into the fall and going into winter as healthy specimens. It never hurts to cover with winter mulch, especially if the plants were installed this year — less issues when plants have been established for over one year.
What to do on the windowsill
If you are a windowsill gardener, time to dig up those herbs and coleus plants. Some gardeners just can’t get enough during the summer, and drag some of the garden indoors for the winter. Only a few things work well on the window sill for extended periods of time, herbs are likely the most successful. Here are some tips to make the most of it:
1. If you are digging and potting, try to keep the soil on the root ball.
2. Use potting soil — not soil from the garden to fill the container.
3. Cut back the top growth by 50% on all that you bring in, yes do it!
4. Place plants in the sunniest window or area of the house.
5. Keep moist but not soaking wet.
6. Do not fertilize. When you apply fertilizer, you are expecting something great to happen! New growth would be soft and lanky.
7. Have lower expectations for windowsill plants — they may survive but likely will not thrive. But — if you can pick basil one more time, it may be worth the hassle to you.
8. If you notice gnats, there are soil drench products you cand purchase for this.
Some herbs like sage and parsley (a bi-ennial) will withstand very cold temps. As fall progresses, you can start to cover sage and parsley with straw or dry leaves for protection and pick it into December. Just think — fresh sage for Thanksgiving stuffing!
Rain has been scarce in my neck of the woods. Just a fall reminder to water your trees and shrubs, especially those planted this year. When attempting to water trees and shrubs when the soil is dry; wet the entire root zone area first, the space between the trunk and the dripline — then you could let the hose trickle for a while, 15-60 minutes, depending on tree size. If you don’t wet down the area first, the trickle water will find a crack and it will all run down the crack, not doing your plants much good.
Use your phone to set a timer to move the hose around. If dry continues, water until the ground stays frozen, usually in November. Until the ground freezes, roots are still growing but since we don’t ‘see’ that end of the plant, we tend to forget about them. I recently had yet another Baileys Compact Cranberry bush die. Since that is five of 10, would not recommend. Mums and fall flowering plants really need water too, as they need plenty to keep blooming. Mums are very shallow rooted, if neglected they will likely die over winter, perennial or not!
Visit us at the Mankato Farmer’s Market! We are located at the Best Buy parking lot on Adams Street. Plants, honey, syrup, soaps, textiles, baked goods, crafts, pies, coffee, jams, local raised meats and eggs. Our Saturday schedule is from 8:00 a.m. — noon. Tuesdays & Thursdays from 3-5:30 p.m. with food trucks most weekdays!