Anyone else happy that the long, HOT, dog days of summer are FINALLY coming to an end? October may bring cooler and shorter days, but it also brings many fall gardening tasks. Tom Dayton maintains that October is the perfect time to plant trees and shrubs. Be sure to click on the following link and follow his step by step advice.
October is also the perfect time to enjoy some fresh picked delicious Ohio apples while tackling those fall gardening tips. Need help selecting the best cooking and baking apples OR need suggestions for your fall garden, click on the following link.
October is the perfect time to prepare your garden and landscape plants for overwintering:
To encourage your perennials to go dormant and stay that way through the inevitable freezing and thawing cycles of winter, apply a heavy mulch of straw, leaves, or other organic matter after the first several hard frosts. If you mulch the ground too early in the fall, rodents may find the cozy layer impossible to resist and the mulch may also delay the ground from freezing solid.
Roses need thick insulation to help them stay dormant. For those that are grafted, such as hybrid teas, make sure that their graft unions are covered with soil to insulate them from low temperatures. After a freeze or two, mound 12 inches of soil around the base of the rosebush. Non-grafted roses, such as rugosas and antiques, don’t need much protection. Just mulch the ground around them with a couple inches of straw or shredded leaves. All climbing roses need to be protected. Pull down the canes, lay them on the ground, and cover them with at least 6 inches of soil. Mound soil around the plant base, too.
Many plants grow from underground bulbs, corms, or tubers, including caladium, calla lily, canna, dahlia, ginger, and tuberous begonia. These plants are easy to overwinter. When nights drop into the low 40s or high 30s F, the leaves of plants will brown and begin to die. This is your cue to dig or lift them up. Remove the dirt from the swollen portions of the roots and set them on newspapers in a shaded area or the garage to cure for a couple of days. Cut off the top growth and pack the bulbs, corms, and tubers in a box filled with dry peat moss or vermiculite. Store in a dark area where the temperature is between 35 degrees and 50 degrees F. When spring arrives, plant again for another year of enjoyment.
Once your garden is ready for winter, it is the perfect time to delight in the beautiful fall colors. Do you wonder why the leaves change color? Click on the link below to find out why.
Don’t forget to enjoy October, it’s the perfect time of the year!