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FALL GARDENING TIPS AND OTHER GOOD STUFF
It is natural for the inner needles of pines, spruce, yews and other evergreens to turn yellow this time of year. Each fall, conifers lose their oldest needles - usually three-year-old growth.
Depending on weather conditions, needles might turn bright yellow, dull tan or rusty brown before dropping to the ground. A pine tree can be full of discolored inner needles one day, then drop them all in a heavy rainstorm and look perfectly "normal" the next.
Fall needle drop does not imply inadequate nutrients, nor is it a sign of inadequate or excessive moisture...it's just part of an evergreen's life cycle.
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Each fall we marvel at the beautiful reds, yellows and orange hues of maple leaves. If you saw bight-colored maple leaves in August, however, it may have been a stress signal.
Maples are very sensitive to changes in their environment and tend to show early color in years when heavier-than-normal summer rains (like this year) raise soil moisture to, or above, field capacity during late summer.
Another cause of premature fall color in sugar maples is Verticillium wilt, a soil-borne disease that can kill the tree. Severely infected trees suffer dieback of a complete limb section or the entire crown of the tree.
One more cause for premature yellowing of maple leaves, particularly in wet years, is planting too deep. Planting too deep smothers roots, which reduces oxygen in the root zone.
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Expect our first killing frost by mid-October. You can minimize disease and insect problems in your garden next season if you do some basic cleanup after frost this fall. Here are some fall projects that can pay off in healthier gardens next spring:
- Remove plants that are done producing any time in late summer or fall. I cut most spent foliage and dump it in my compost bin. A year from now, these plant parts will have transposed into rich, dark compost that can be dug back into garden soil. Proper composting destroys disease organisms.
- Spray tough perennial grasses and other weeds with herbicide.
- Make note of what plants were diseased and where they were located. Next spring, select resistant varieties and rotate crops. Plant related crops in the same site only once every three or four years.
- Prune trees and shrubs during the dormant season. Thinning improves air circulation and decreases the severity of many foliage diseases.
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I've become a fan of steel-rod hooks for hanging pots. Last spring, I moved a sickly spruce away from the door by my garage and filled the space with four plant hooks that step easily into the ground. Four pots of cascading petunias were a much better use of the space, and next year I can experiment with other flower combinations.
I've purchased several hooks from the Arboretum and several others at the recent Shady Acres Herbfest. Made in Minneapolis by I.F.A.R., Inc., the company also makes deck hooks, hose holders, potholders, wreath frames and other devices.
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Here's a quiz: Is the baseball-size onion we eat a root or a leaf? The question was raised in a gardening discussion group I subscribe to on the Internet. Apparently the National Onion Association published a children's education curriculum that describes the onion as a root.
The right answer was supplied by Mary Meyer, director of Minnesota's Master Gardener program. "An onion is a true bulb," she wrote in her response. "A true bulb is made up of enlarged leaf bases - on the onion, that is what we eat - and a basal plate.
"It is easy to cut up the onion bulb and see the difference between the modified leaves or leaf bases, and the root, which looks and functions quite differently. Most kids could see at a glance that the plant parts are very different. We should teach children what is correct."
Shame on you, National Onion Association.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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