After a severely dry summer, October brought much needed rains — at least here, in Cornish Flat, New Hampshire. It is particularly important for trees, shrubs and perennials planted this year to go into the winter well hydrated, and it looks like Mother Nature has taken care of that. I always recommend watering new plants before the ground freezes if they are dry.
Because of the drought, there is virtually nothing left blooming. Everything has gone by. The only bloomer in my garden is a small native tree, witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), which is loaded with small curly yellow flowers on their branches. It is pollinated by the owlet moth — one of the few pollinators still active now, after many frosts. The seeds are not formed until spring, and it is not until next fall that the seed capsules burst open, sending seeds up to 45 feet away.
Winterberry is not blooming now, but it is loaded with bright red berries. A native shrub, it grows in swamps and wet places in the wild, but it also can be used in regular garden soil. It is dioecious, meaning there are male and female plants. Fortunately, the nursery industry labels their stock as male or female. Only one male is needed for most plantings. It looks great in a vase with cuttings of witch hazel, or with sprigs of evergreens.
But on to the late fall chores. Now is the time to empty your clay and enamel pots of their soil. If not, they are likely to burst when wet soil in them expands upon freezing. Best to rinse out and put your favorite pots in the garage or barn. Plastic and fiberglass pots won’t break.
What about your lawn? If you have a heavy leaf load, I recommend raking up the leaves. Oaks and other heavy leaves can impede growth in early spring, and can encourage snow mold. If you don’t have a smothering load of leaves, you can just mulch them with your lawn mower and leave them in place. They will add needed organic matter to the soil, helping you to have a nice lawn next summer. To avoid snow mold, give your lawn one last mowing, cutting it a little shorter than usual.
By now, you probably have brought inside all potted houseplants that summered outside. If so, you may have a nice crop of aphids on some of them. Look for sticky excrement on leaves, and tiny aphids. You can get rid of the aphids two ways: First, take the pots outside and rinse the leaves (top and bottom) with the hose. Or, take a shower with your plants. … Only kidding, just rinse them off in the kitchen sink or shower. Alternatively, you can spray them with “Safer Soap” or your homemade equivalent — one tablespoon of mild dish soap in a quart of water. Spray the leaves, rinse after 20 minutes. It will dissolve the fats in their skin, drying them out and doing them in.
This is a good time to test your soil. In the spring, the wait is often long. Now, you can get quick results and make improvements to the soil if need be. Each state has a Cooperative Extension Service that offers soil testing for a minimum fee. In my state, the standard test includes recommendations for adding fertilizer, pH, mineral content, organic matter content, and a test for lead. If your vegetable garden is near a house built before 1970 when lead paint was outlawed, you should get it tested for lead. For an additional fee, you can get your soil tested for cadmium and other heavy metals, too.
When you buy blueberry plants, the soil they come in is at the proper pH (a measure of the acidity). But, as the roots extend outward, they may not have the proper pH. If your blueberries are not producing well, get the pH tested. They need very acidic soil, 4.5 to 5.5 on the pH scale. This is a good time of year to add soil acidifier or elemental sulfur if your soil is not acidic enough. Sprinkle soil acidifier around the plants, extending out 2 to 3 feet from their centers. This will improve production in a year or two. You may want to get the soil around your bushes tested for pH, in addition to a general soil test for your other gardens.
This is a good time to do some pruning. After leaf drop, you can really see the branches. You can ask yourself, as you look at a shrub or tree, “What will this branch be like in five years?” If it’s growing toward another branch or shooting through the middle of the shrub, you should remove it now, while it is still small. I never prune a woody plant in the first or second year after planting — it needs all its leaves to produce food for the roots.
If you have cleaned up your vegetable bed and removed annual flowers elsewhere, it is good to cover the soil with chopped leaves. Weed seeds are blowing around now. Don’t offer them a good place to land and spend the winter. I don’t usually pull annuals in the fall for that reason. I just snip off the tops and pull the roots in the spring.
Generally, we are most active in the garden in the spring and early summer, but this is the time to do some planning. Put on an extra layer of wool, grab a notebook, and take a walk around your gardens. Make note of places that need more or different plants, and do some research about what would do well there. We have a long winter ahead, so do your homework.
Henry Homeyer is an organic gardener living in Cornish, New Hampshire. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.
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