Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Preparation

The only real problem with not having last week off is it's the week I usually use to prepare my gardens for winter. I have a serious back issue, so as much as I like to be out in the dirt,  I have to break large jobs - like mulch and weeding - up into mini-sessions.

Friday, I was able to get all the indoor plants back inside before the chance of frost. (More on that on another day).

Sunday, I carved out some time in the morning to attend to the Little Bee and Butterfly Gardens. They were the two gardens that got the most in terms of new additions, so even if I can't get to all the gardens,  I wanted to make sure the new additions were well-prepared for winter. So under the watchful eye of the rookie garden supervisor...
I set to work. I also had some more planting to do. One of the plants I ordered from Breck's didn't grow, so they offered me something else. I chose some Aliums.
I got 30 bulbs of the "Eye Candy" mixture. Here's hoping the squirrels don't find them all and at least some make it through. I also tossed a handful of grape hyacinth bulbs in the front garden too, while I was at it.

I don't generally do a lot of trimming until after the frost hits, but I had to get a few of them under control before I got the mulch down. The Lavender was crowding out the Poppies, the Bleeding Heart was in danger of running over the Sweet William, and the Blanket Flower....
... was working on taking over the whole Little Bee garden. IYou can see it pushing over the Crimson Glory Rose. I didn't realize until it was too late, but it completely shadowed the Double Bloom Susan, killing it. It was getting perilously close to the Delphiniums, so it was time to trim it back.
Past time apparently! Look how far it's grown out from the original stalks. Once all the trimming was done I laid down the mulch, bulking it up around the base of each plant.
The Little Bee garden is nice and clean, and everything can get the last bit of sun to root deep before the frost hits hard.
The butterfly garden looks nice and tidy now... and still so lush and green. It's hard to believe winter is on its way.

4 comments:

Araignee said...

It is hard to believe Halloween in right around the corner. It's going to be in the 80s for the next few days and this humidity is not going anywhere soon. I can count on one hand the days I've been able to open the windows since early spring.
Your little gardens have me green with envy. I've got nothing but pots of dead things to attend to.

Delighted Hands said...

It is amazing how quickly a plant can go from tidy to jungle! It sure looks nice now, good job accomplished! Winterizing takes place in December for me to prep for those Jan freezes that are possible.

kathy b said...

Wow you are the fist to mention deep root. It makes perfect sense. I love how your yard blossomed. Sorry about your back!

Anonymous said...

Hard to believe October is more than half over.