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fall garden chores

What NOT to Do in the Garden

November 22, 2019

Frost has left your yard looking kind of dead. You hear the neighbors blowing leaves and see them busily tidying up—you feel guilty that you’re going out for a hike or sitting inside dreaming of next spring rather than doing yardwork. But you may be doing your landscape a favor by doing less!

Leaves that need to be raked, bagged or not ?

What to do with leaves?
Do you really need to rake up and dispose of leaves?
Leave them! In many cases, you can simply leave them where they fall: in wooded areas, under trees or shrubs, on your vegetable garden, flower beds—in fact, almost anywhere but a lawn, leaves can act as a mulch and eventual soil enrichment.
• Move them where needed. If the leaves are constantly blowing back onto your lawn, or are matting and smothering groundcovers or small plants, move them to other areas where they can break down in peace.
• Shred them with a shredder or lawn mower. Shredding will help leaves stay in place and break down more quickly. Using a mulching mower on your lawn before leaves get too deep will save you from raking there, too.
• The bottom line: If you must rake, save your leaves in a compost pile or in an unobtrusive area of your yard to spread back on your planting beds once they break down.

What about leaf blowers?
If you must move leaves around, consider that these concerns—Electric or gas blowers may:
• Harm beneficial insects, small animals and their habitats
• Damage plants and shrubs
• Create noise and air pollution.

What about pruning?
With the exception of diseased or damaged wood, leave pruning shrubs and trees until late winter—or immediately after bloom in the case of trees and shrubs that bloom on “old” wood.

Evening primrose_Oenothera biennis_seed pods_Andreas Rockstein_CC BY-SA 2.0_Flickr
Consider leaving seed heads for awhile.

What about annual and perennial plants?
Although you may be tempted to cut everything back in the interest of neatness, consider leaving dried seed heads for winter interest, self-sowing, and feeding the birds—at least until the seeds are gone or stems start to break down. One exception, of course, is if plants seed so aggressively that they become nuisances. Consider removing such plants and replacing them with more desirable alternatives.

Enjoy your break from yardwork!
Take time to reflect on what is working well in your garden and what needs rethinking. How does your yard look at this time of year? Does it have good “bones” that make it attractive in all four seasons, or do you need to consider adding some new plants that look good in fall or winter? Do you need to remove failing or overgrown trees or shrubs? Is there too much lawn? You still have time to plant this fall—until the ground is frozen—or start planning for next year!

Take time to evaluate your landscape.

Article by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information about fall planting:

https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/2017/09/fall-is-the-best-time-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs/

 

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Categories General Gardening Tags compost, fall garden chores, freeze, mulch, pruning, winter garden chores

What to Know Before You Buy That Grass Seed for Your Lawn

September 7, 2019

Is your lawn in need of replacing or repairing? Here in Western North Carolina, we recommend using cool season grasses—and August 15 to September 15 is the best time to plant!

Grass Seed

Seeding after these dates increases the chance of failure caused by winter injury. If you don’t accomplish seeding cool-season grasses in the fall, your best alternative is mid-February to early March.

Recommended grass species:

Tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescues—such as creeping red, chewings, and hard fescue—are cool-season perennial grasses used for lawns in the mountains. These grasses perform best in spring and fall and have a tendency to show signs of stress in the summer. Recommended rates of seeding for these grasses for new lawns/reseeding are between 1.5 to 2 pounds of seed per thousand square feet for Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass and 6 pounds per thousand square feet for tall fescue.

 Understanding the label:

Grass Seed Label

Much like a label on pesticides you purchase, the label on a bag of grass seed provides invaluable information about:

  • The seed variety or varieties: In the example given, ‘Grand Slam GLR’ is the variety of perennial ryegrass, ‘Midnight’, ‘Everest’ and ‘Bewitched’ are the varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, and ‘Radar’ is the variety of chewings fescue.
  • Purity: Purity is the percent by weight of each seed component (variety or species) in a mixture and is a measure of “seed quantity.” In the example given, 24.06% is pure ‘Midnight’ Kentucky bluegrass, 19.93% is pure ‘Radar’ chewings fescue, 19.73% is pure ‘Grand Slam GLR’ perennial ryegrass, 19.71% is pure ‘Everest’ Kentucky bluegrass, and 15.63% is pure ‘Bewitched’ Kentucky bluegrass.
  • Germination percentage: Germination is expressed on the seed label as the percentage of pure seed that is capable of growth. Germination declines with age of the seed and therefore seed older than 9 months to 1 year may be less viable than fresh seed. The date when the seed was tested for germination is included on the analysis tag as an indication of freshness and to protect the buyer. Purchase only the freshest seed of the highest purity and germination.
  • Date: The date when the seed was officially tested. It is January (01) 2019, in this example.
  • Other crop seed:Crop seed content is the percent by weight of all seeds identified in the bag that are grown as an “agricultural crop.” These must be specified by name if they exceed 5% of the weight of the seed bag. Look for the lowest possible crop seed content. In this example it is 0.08%.
  • Weed seed: The percent by weight of all seeds in the container that have not been identified as pure seed. In the example, this value is 0.0%.
  • Noxious weeds: Expressed on the label as the number per pound or per ounce found in the seed lot. Weeds classified as noxious can vary by state and are difficult to manage even with proper chemical and cultural practices. In this example, none are specified, which is the best!
  • Inert matter: The percent by weight of all material in the seed container that will not grow. This value should be as low as possible because seed cost is based on bag weight—inert material contributes to bag weight but does not contribute any value in term of seed quality or purity. In this example, it is 0.86%.

Know before you buy!

Reading the label will help ensure that you not only get the best value on the seed you buy but that you will minimize the number of unwanted weeds in your lawn!

Article by Bob Wardwell, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

 For More Information:

Replacing your lawn:

https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/lawn-replacement-lawn-new/

Carolina Lawns: A Guide to Maintaining Quality Turf in the Landscape https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/carolina-lawns

 

 

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Categories Lawns Tags fall garden chores, fescue grass, Kentucky bluegrass, lawn care, lawns, overseeding, seed label, seeds

Time to Maintain: Autumn—the Not So Dormant Season, Part III

September 12, 2017

Winter is fast approaching and there’s still garden work to do! In this three-part blog series on fall garden chores, we’ve already covered lawn repair, insect monitoring, and planting. Part III covers those final chores that keep gardeners busy through the chilly autumn days.

Leaf chopping_jackl-dee_CC BY-NC-ND 2.0_Flickr
Shredded leaves as garden mulch

Leaves
Fall wouldn’t be fall without leaves—and we have lots of them! Shred them with a lawn mower or shredding machine, put them in the compost pile, and later work the decaying leaves into your soil to enrich it. A thin layer of shredded leaves also makes a great mulch. Use a mulching mower or rake or blow leaves off your lawn to avoid smothering the grass. In late fall, I pull dead leaves out of my azaleas and other shrubs in order to keep interior branches aerated and healthy. Use leaves to cover dormant perennial beds and vegetable gardens over the winter—then remove wet, compacted leaves in the spring from emerging plants.

Pruning
There is no need to rush to prune shrubs in the fall when the weather cools, but do remove dead or diseased branches from both trees and shrubs.

Pruning_UGA College of Ag_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr
Pruning technique and timing vary by tree and shrub type.

The best time to prune trees and most broadleaf shrubs is when they are dormant in the winter (January and February). Try not to remove more than one-third of shrubs in any one year. February is a good time to prune summer-flowering shrubs, such as crape myrtle and rose of Sharon. Most conifers will not regenerate new growth if their branches are cut back into old, brown wood; but if your conifer is misshapen from the previous season’s growth, trim away excess growth in February. Conifers, however, are best pruned as new “candle” growth appears in June and July, cutting only about one-third of the emerging candle before the needles unfurl.

Prune camellias and spring-flowering shrubs after they flower—usually no later than early July. This includes azaleas, rhododendrons, pieris, forsythia, lilac, and spirea. If you prune these shrubs in fall or winter, you cut off all the lovely spring buds. Hydrangeas demand their own unique pruning schedule, so identify your variety and take time to research before you cut. Cut back ornamental grasses to the ground in late February or early March, just before new foliage shoots emerge.

Winter weeds
Weeds grow in winter, too. Some weeds you see in spring germinated this fall. Every weed you pull now means one less weed to pull next spring. A pre-emergent herbicide works only if applied before the weed seed germinates—and that was late August or September. The next pre-emergent window is early spring before the dogwoods bloom. If you missed the pre-emergent window, you can hand pull or use a selective herbicide (2,4-D) to rid your garden of winter weeds. Selective herbicides will not kills grass, but will kill seedlings of plants and wildflowers that you want to reseed and spread.

General garden clean-up
Remove dead or diseased plant materials—especially spent annuals—before winter! Leaving the plants on the ground to decay only invites insects and disease to your garden. If the plant material is disease free, chop it up and toss into your compost pile. Hold off cutting back some of your plants, such as asters, coreopsis, rudbeckia, and Echinacea, until spring. The seed heads provide winter interest in the garden, as well as food for the birds to enjoy. Now is the time to dig bulbs that won’t reliably overwinter in our climate. These include dahlias, caladiums, cannas, and gladioli. Bring in houseplants, but be sure to check them first and wash off any insects you find. Hydrate young trees, shrubs, and new plantings well before winter.

Mulch
Adding a couple inches of mulch to new plantings will help insulate against cold and lack of moisture. Existing landscapes do not necessarily need a yearly application of fresh mulch. If you do need to add mulch, wait until all the leaves are off your trees and you’ve thoroughly cleaned up the flowerbeds. A fresh layer 2 to 3 inches thick should do the trick. Keep it pulled slightly away from the trunks of trees and shrubs to discourage voles, and never pile mulch up around a plant like a volcano. The preferred mulches in our area are ground hardwood or pine. Both add organic matter to the soil, control weeds, and conserve moisture.

Garden Tools_Pleuntje_CC BY-SA 2.0_Flickr
Clean and sharpen garden tools before winter.

Tools
Before you put your tools away, thoroughly clean them, sharpen the edges, and apply oil to hinges. Come spring, your tools will be ready to use. Disconnect and drain your hoses before below-freezing temperatures.

Relax and dream of spring!
Your fall garden chores are done. Start or update your garden journal. Get your soil tested, or retested if it’s been three years. And begin planning for the spring garden.

Article written by Beth Leonard, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

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Categories Seasonal Chores Tags fall garden chores

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