I rarely clean up my garden in the fall. I wait until spring when the ground is softer and my motivation is stronger. Leaving plants up also makes for natural bird feeders throughout the winter and ads winter interest.
But, next spring I want to hit the ground running and it was an awesome fall day (especially for NOVEMBER!!), so I got to work. I stripped my garden of all but a few well placed sunflowers. I left all the echinacea because they look really neat in the snow. I trimmed back many of my plants even though they may have been still somewhat green. I trimmed the dead lily stalks leaving just a few inches to let me know where they were come next spring. I pruned my pear and a few of the shrubs. I even got rid of a very ugly hosta that I have been meaning to dispose of for quite some time. I figured that would give me some fresh space in the spring to plant something that I really enjoyed.
And I even planted garlic for the very first time. I am not too concerned about how late in the season it is. Real winter comes late in this area. Besides, the garlic cost me all of $1.50!
I tried my best to get rid of as much Creeping Charlie as I could. It really got out of hand during the month that I have been tied up redoing my bathroom floor. It usually takes me a few weekends in the spring to get it back under control. But there is supposed to be good weather all week, so maybe I'll still have a few more chances to get at it.
I'm still waiting for the last of the bulbs that I ordered. They ran out of some of them -- so I will only have about 30 to plant when they do arrive. I hope they come soon or I will have to store them in the refrigerator over the winter!
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12 comments:
I hope your garlic grows well and that your bulbs arrive before the ground freezes!
Kate, most of the mail order bulbs came on Friday. Then I went to Menards that night and bought about 140 more bulbs. I did manage to get them all planted Saturday, though!
I planted garlic for the first time this fall, too! And I got notice on Friday that the rest of my bulbs are on the way. Tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be warmer days, so I hope they come then!
I can't believe it's almost winter already!
Kylee, winter certainly snuck up on me this year. I still haven't gotten the rest of my bulbs.
But... there's always more at Menards! :)
I can't believe it but I just ordered more bulbs from van Engelen. I couldn't help myself.
Between Kylee and you, Sylvana, I've had a good laugh ... luckily the ground is frozen solid, so I couldn't even plant bulbs now even if I wanted to!!
Hi Sylvana, thanks for your comment on my blog regarding Picasa and the picture storage problem. I just noticed that your pictures are doing like mine; when you click on them, they are huge. This means that you aren't resizing them properly and they will eat up your storage space very quickly. Annie in Austin suggested that this might be my problem, I checked into it, and she was right. It is a pain in the rear, but I have been going back and reposting the same pictures after properly resizing them. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know.
Like you I do most of my "fall" clean-up the following spring, I like the way the seed heads look with the snow plus they provide cover and food for birds. This year however it was warm so late I did much more fall clean-up than most years, we shall see how much easier my job is in the spring.
Kylee, van Engelen, huh? I will have to check them out.
Kate, I have bought bulbs in November and December before, kept them in a cool place and planted them the next spring just because I got such a great deal on them. A pack of 12 tulips for $.25! That is worth a try, right? I planted some and gave some to my neighbor and they all did very well!
Robin, I actually have been re-sizing them in the post html when I think of it, but are you saying that I would have to do it somewhere else too? I looked at my storage usage and even after 2-1/2 years of posting I have only used up 7% of my space. Not sure why it is so little.
IGW, this spring I found it hard to weed around bulbs, so I am hoping that all this late season weeding will save me some hassle come next spring - but we will see, as you say!
With the warm weather, I did my spring clean up early also. I did that last year because I was expecting and due in May 2007. It made the spring such a treat to just plant and not clean up too.
heirloomgardener, oh, good. I'm looking forward to that!
and welcome to my blog!
Hey Lady! You're blogging less than I am these days!
What's up for spring? I'm sure you've been thinking about it! I got my garlic in at the 11th hour last fall and I'm waiting for my shallots to arrive now for spring planting. They did fine in the same bed as the garlic last year.
Hope to hear something from you soon.
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