October & November Tips of the Month
October
-Its time to plant your spring bulbs for beautiful color in April & May (daffodils, tulips, allium, crocus, squill & hyacinth all in stock) Daffodils can go for years and years and years. They keep growing and expanding. The first year a good big bulb will give you 2 or 3 good blooms. The second year 3 to 5. The third year 6 or 8. And so on.
-Cut down stems and foliage of herbaceous perennials after two or three hard frosts and when leaves begin to brown.
-Dig and bring in cannas, dahlias and gladiolus. Dry, clean and store in a cool location free from frost.
-Remove leaves from lawn to reduce lawn problems. Compost or shred and use them for mulch.
-Fall is the time to control certain broadleaf weeds in the lawn, such as WHITE CLOVER, DANDELION and GROUND IVY.
-Remove any diseased or insect-infested plant material from your garden, it may harbor over-wintering stages of disease or insect pests. If you leave this plant materail in your garden, you are leaving diseases and insects which will begin to reproduce again next spring and add to next years' pest problem.
November
-After Chrysanthemums have stopped blooming, cut stems back close to the ground and dispose of stems and all dropped and dried leaves and branches.
-Clean up rose beds. Be sure all diseased leaves are raked up and disposed. Inspect trees and shrubs for bagworm capsules. Remove and destroy them to reduce next year's pest population.
-Be sure not to store apples or pears with vegetables. The fruits give off ethylene gas which speeds up the breakdown of vegetables and will cause them to develop off flavors.
-After the ground freezes, mulch small fruit plants such as strawberries. One inch of straw or leaves is ideal for strawberries.
-Remove all mummified fruit from fruit trees and rake up and destroy those on the ground. Also, rake and dispose of apple and cherry leaves. Good sanitation practices reduce reinfestation of insects and diseases the following season.
-Clean power tools of all material dirt. Replace worn spark plugs, oil necessary parts, and sharpen blades. Store all tools in their proper place indoors, never outdoors where they will rust over the winter.