We’ve had quite an interesting Fall haven’t we!
I still have leaves on the Honeylocust (Gleditsia tricanthos) in my front yard…an amazing feat when you consider they are usually all off by September!
They say we’ll have a Century Winter this year with lots of snow and cold, hmmm I’m a bit skeptical, but bring it on, I’ll wax up my toboggan and bring out my almost pristine red Olympic gloves…not like it got cold enough last year to even use them.
Here’s the list of to-do's for November!
Winterize, hey, it might not happen, but it couldn’t hurt to be overcautious. Bring pots into carports, under decks against the house in a sheltered area and group them together. Use carpet underlay or that silver wrap you can get from Revy to winterize outdoor taps, or even bubble wrap.
Once you’ve winterized your pots, those in a sheltered place at the front can be updated. After the first few wind storms, you should have a nice collection of pine and cedar boughs which you can add to the planters, you can also add some lovely evergreen colour with Skimmia, Gaultheria procumbens and grasses as well as some artfully placed red twig dogwood and curly willow from Arts.
Rake up leaves and either bag them to use as insulation for pots or use as mulch in garden beds around sensitive plants. Don’t use apple, rose or other fruit tree leaves to avoid spreading scab or black spot etc.
Divide up hardy perennials.
Plant or move trees and shrubs.
Prune out old raspberry canes.
Lift and store Dahlia’s after a frost knocks down the green growth. Store your bananas, Cannas, fuschias, begonias as well as other patio plants. Store in a greenhouse or garage or other area where they will be cool and well ventilated but will not freeze.
Drain and blow out irrigation systems…your camping trailers as well.
Plant out garlic.
Keep an eye on those gutters they fill up fast with leaves.
Weed, you can take a break from it in January.
Now that we’ve started up our furnaces after those lovely mild days of October, mist your houseplants, even better place pebble trays under them and add water. As the water evaporates from all that surface area it will humidify the air and make your plants happy.
Don’t forget to bring in some cool bouquets, evergreens and berries look great in a simple glass vase. Make sure they are out of reach of children and Border Collies.
Clean up and sharpen tools and the lawnmower! Don’t forget to remove the fluids. Old gas makes for a nasty start-up in the spring, so nasty in fact I gave up and traded it in for a push mower.
Put patio furniture away and make some space for all that snow we’ll be getting.
For those of you who are going away someplace warm this winter I am very very jealous. For the rest of you, I’ll see you on the toboggan hill!!
Cheers,
Laurelle