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Fall Gardening

To most gardeners, Fall is the time for raking leaves and cleaning up the garden for the Winter months ahead. Many gardeners put their leaves in a compost pile. Composting is nature's way of degrading organic materials into humus and minerals. It is the natural process for returning to the soil nutrients that were initially absorbed by roots of plants. Materials that can be composted include, sugars, starches, wood, paper, cardboard, vegetable and fruit waste, leaves, oil, etc. Anything that originated from plants or animals can be composted except for those materials that have been polymerized such as plastics, vinyls, etc.

The onset of fall doesn't have to mean the end of garden beauty. For example, the picture to the right, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, is a beauty without its leaves. The distorted and twisted branches are magnificent and can be seen so much better without leaves. Also, there are many grasses that begin to show their true beauty as the weather gets colder. Try planting grasses to use as hedges, mass plantings, and edgings.

Dig up tender bulbs like elephant's ear, caladium, gladiolus, canna and dahlia before the first frost. When the foliage has turned yellow or brown on your bulbs, dig them up and store them for the winter. Replant bulbs in the spring after the danger of frost has passed. If you're storing summer bulbs such as dahlias and gladiolus, give them a quick check to see if any are rotting. If so, remove and discard.