Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Choose shade trees for fall color now and plant them while the soil is still warm.

• Wildflower seed broadcast with the first rains will take root over the winter and burst into flower next spring.

• Divide overgrown water lilies and irises. Repot using heavy soil with no organic matter or packaged Aquatic Planting Medium.

• It’s time to plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus and many other flower bulbs for beautiful blooms next spring.

• Compost your leaves as they fall, don’t burn them! Leaves make wonderful compost that breaks down into rich humus by next summer.

Putting the Garden to Bed

Fall is a glorious time of year to work in the yard. It is the ideal time to take stock of your perennial gardens and correct mistakes and problem areas, dig up, rearrange and divide existing plants, add new perennials and shrubs, and plant spring blooming bulbs. As fall winds down and this work is completed, you will turn to the task of putting your garden to bed. Completing a few simple tasks now will not only prepare your garden to withstand the winter but also help plan for next spring.

In the vegetable garden, remove any dead plants and place them in the compost pile. Then turn the soil and plant a winter-hardy green manure crop such as crimson clover, fava beans or annual rye grass. Another option is to turn the soil and then spread a thick layer of compost or shredded leaves on the bed. Both methods will protect and improve the soil over the winter. By preparing the beds in the fall, you can take advantage of the first available planting days in late winter and early spring to plant early peas, spinach, cabbage and lettuce.

Divide artichoke plants which have been in the ground for three or four years. Mulch established plants with steer manure. Garlic should be planted now for an easy crop that you can harvest next spring.

In your flower beds, wait until perennials have died back before cutting them back almost to ground level, and compost the cuttings that aren’t diseased. The rule of thumb is: “If it’s yellow or brown, cut it down, if it’s green, leave it alone.” Plants that remain green through the winter can be cut back in March when they begin to grow again.

Don’t cut ornamental grasses back until late winter or early spring. Wait until new growth is beginning to emerge from the base of the plant. The stems of perennials like black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum and grasses add winter interest to the garden, and their seeds provide food for wintering birds.

This is a good time to divide overgrown perennials. It’s also a good time to choose and plant some new varieties, and be sure to add some spring-flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips.

Remove the leaves of hostas, daylilies and agapanthus as these tend to turn into a soggy mess by spring and provide shelter for slugs. Rake up fallen rose leaves and remove them from the garden area as they frequently have disease spores.

Dig up dahlia bulbs when they are finished blooming. Begonia bulbs should be lifted if they are in the ground. If they are in containers, you can cut back the foliage after frost and store the pots in a dry, frost-free area.

Preparing the garden for the winter ahead ensures that it gets off to a good start next season. Come the spring, when you have so much work to do, you will be glad that your garden is clean and ready for a new year.

• Bulbs, bulbs, bulbs! It’s time to plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus and many other flower bulbs for beautiful blooms next spring.

• Garlic cloves can be planted now. Keep them watered and weeded through the winter and you will harvest healthy large bulbs next June.

• Divide artichoke plants which have been in the ground for three or four years. Mulch established plants with steer manure.

• Fragrant ‘Paperwhite’ Narcissus will bloom indoors by Thanksgiving if planted now in rocks and water.

• ‘Naked Lady’ Amaryllis have lovely, fragrant pink flowers that bloom in late summer with little or no care. Plant the bulbs, available at local nurseries, now.

• Fall is for planting. Make the most of the nice fall weather and plant trees, shrubs, ground covers and bulbs now during the fall planting season.

October Garden Jobs

October is the month to finish up planting jobs and make the garden ready for winter. There’s lots to do in the garden now, and warm fall days are the time to do it.

Shrubs and trees planted now will get a good head start as the soil in October and November is still warm enough to encourage vigorous root growth, and cooler daytime temperatures make it easier on the plants. When the cold weather does set in along with the rains, their roots will keep on growing and the plants will become well established. They will reward you next spring with a big show of new growth, and a greater tolerance for the summer heat.

This is prime time for planting spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Put some in containers so you can enjoy the flowers on your patio or by the front door.

If the plants in your outside containers have died, don’t put the pots on the shelf until spring– plant your favorite annuals and perennials for fall and winter. Pansies, snapdragons, primroses, stock and calendulas will give you the most color through the winter months.

Ground covers can go in as soon as possible. The winter rains will help them get established. Cut back perennial plants that have died down or alternatively, leave the dead foliage in place for over-wintering wildlife.

Many perennial plants grow in an ever-widening clumps. To keep these plants vigorous and blooming well, they can be lifted and divided every few years while the soil is still warm. Daylilies, Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’, Hostas, yarrow and Phlox are easy to divide. Leave plants that are somewhat cold-tender until the soil has warmed in the spring.

Start garden maintenance in October; rake up leaves frequently so they don’t have a chance to smother the lawn and provide a home for pests in flower beds. Remember that diseased or mildewed leaves should be discarded and not thrown into the compost pile. Their fungus spores will carry over into the next season and possibly cause problems elsewhere in the garden. If you take care of this on a regular basis it will save you from doing a major cleanup later.

Clean the beds of old flower stems and dead foliage, pulling weeds as you go. This is valuable not only from an aesthetic perspective, but also to reduce the potential for insects and diseases to be carried from one year to the next.

Build a compost pile with the fallen leaves and garden refuse, and you’ll have some rich humus to add to the soil next summer. Spread a new layer of mulch or bark chips around shrubs and perennials to insulate the soil and to protect bare ground from the driving rains.

October is a lovely time to garden, and your work will bring great rewards in the months to come.

• Japanese maples may be pruned now in order to shape them.

• Mottled leaves are often a sign of spider mites. Check for them with a hand lens or bring a leaf to your nursery in a plastic bag for identification and treatment options.

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with 0-10-10 fertilizer to encourage flowers for next spring.

• Keep flowers and vegetables in peak condition by giving them a midsummer feeding with a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus.

• Roses have more flowers all summer long than any other shrub. Plant them in a sunny location and feed monthly for continuous blooms.

Best Vegetables for Fall Growing

When the days grow shorter and the night air has that crisp chill of fall, it’s nice to be able to walk out to the garden and harvest a bunch of fresh broccoli, or a head of cabbage or lettuce. But to make this happen in Willits, you need to start planting the fall garden now, in the middle of summer.

We have a short growing season here, and when fall arrives, it is too late to start planting since cold weather generally comes on rapidly in November. Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower take 60 to 90 days to mature from transplant size, so it’s important to set plants out soon. They will grow vigorously in the warm summer weather. Then, when they begin to head up, the weather will be cooling down so that they can develop properly.

Though many of the same crops are planted for the fall as for the spring garden, fall vegetables will hold for harvest much longer without bolting to seed. Many crops, like Oriental greens, radicchio, leeks, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collards and kale will actually get sweeter when touched by light frosts.

Transplant seedlings into well-prepared moist soil in the evening, so they have the cool night temperatures to settle in and minimize shock. In hot weather it is best to shelter newly transplanted seedlings for a few days with shade cloth or row covers.

You can start seeds of leaf lettuce, bok choy, spinach, Swiss chard and roquette or arugula now. These are fast-maturing crops that will be ready before frost. Although most seeds will germinate quickly in the warm summer soil, some, such as lettuce and spinach, will not germinate well if the soil temperature is above 85°F. Shading the soil with a board or a light mulch will keep the soil cooler, enhancing germination. Remove the temporary shade when you see sprouts emerging.

There are many kinds of lettuce to choose from on seed racks that will give you color and variety in your salads. Swiss chard comes in green, red or “rainbow”, a mixture of colored stalks.

Root crops, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips, can be left in the ground through the fall. Green onions and radishes can also be planted for harvest in the fall.

It is important to rotate your crops from year to year. Do not plant the same crops in the same place that they were planted in the previous year because the soil will be weakened through continual loss of the same nutrients and the plants will also attract the same insects and diseases to that part of the garden.

A major benefit of a fall garden is that it gives you fresh vegetables long after most of your summer crops have been harvested and killed by the frost. So start your fall garden now to extend the productivity of your garden.