Smooth-talking garden gurus and magazines will cheerfully declare:
"These (whatever) NEVER need deadheading." Right. Only if they're silk, or plastic, m'dear.
Happily, most gardeners are equipped with common sense, and built-in absurd-o-meters, to challenge such suspicious statements.
A clever gardener should plant him/herself in front of any happy (autumn) bloomer, and look. Properly maintained absurd-o-meters should ding, loudly, because, of course, the gardener will observe dead, or dying flowers that don't vanish, but clutter up the landscape, or worse, rot on the nearest leaf. Anyone who says it ain't so urgently requires an ophthalmologist.
"Mulch NOW!" Rubbish. A loud 'Ding!' should sound. Wait. After two hard frosts animals will have picked out and prepared their winter homes. (Your clean, bare beds were ignored.) Mulch THEN.
Slugs, fat right now from feasting, wait all winter to burp hosta breath in spring. But now Sluggo is available to anguished gardeners. These super little pellets vanish slimeballs, and their offspring, too. (Pets and children are safe.) Simply shake the container over areas frequented by the beasts; they're history. Renew every month or so during growing season. That's it. Oh -- apply it now to eliminate sex-under-foliage all winter.
Do you wince when driving by a crisp, brown evergreen? It was certainly killed by windburn and dehydration during Michigan's frequently fierce winters. So, water, water and water, till you can't bear it. Then water again, until you absolutely MUST blow the irrigation lines. Only then, when winter's teeth snap at your heels, should you spray cherished evergreens and other plants with Wilt-Pruf, an anti-desiccant. Why postpone spraying so long? Wilt-Pruf is effective for three months. So, a late November application is ideal, as it should remain effective till early March. Dressed in a breathable, waxy blanket, and having retained precious water during the scary months, pleased plants will reward you with healthy spring foliage.
Hate to squeeze its ready-mixed spray-bottle trigger a zillion times? A gardener's miserable index finger often rebels. Normally equitable gardeners find themselves snapping at spouses and spruces. But there's an easy fix. Simply purchase an inexpensive plastic pump sprayer, a handy tool to have around, add water to the condensed Wilt-Pruf at the proper ratio, pump up the pressure, then point and spray. Water and gunk mix companionably to blanket anything you love.
Oh -- don't forget to spray leafy bottoms, too.
(Have you REALLY watered thoroughly? Trust, but verify. Dig a skinny hole 8 inches deep. Peer into it. Well?)
AFTER the second hard frost, prune shrub and tree branches that threaten to rub their neighbor in icy winds. (Everybody's dormant, and won't notice a thing.) Wrap their trunks to prevent gnawing by ravenous buck-toothed rodents.
Hoe the stiffened soil. Grasshopper eggs, waiting to hatch in spring in the first 2 inches of earth, are exposed; everybody dies.
Don't whack all foliage now. Plumed grasses, false forget-me-nots (Brunnera), dead nettle (Lamium), lamb's ears (Stachys), and coral bells (Heuchera), for example, can be left untouched. Retained basal foliage is Nature's mulch. But hosta leaves go gloppy in late autumn. Eliminate them.
Use thick twine to gently support shrubs and evergreens. (Heavy snow can snap unsecured branches.)
Bring potted annuals into your home by degrees. Get them used to the idea. (Warning: spray for insects BEFORE inviting annuals to live with you for six to seven months, or you'll find breeding bugs frolicking in your cereal.)
Rake; leaf nothing on the beds or grass. Mow the lawn quite short to thwart spring fungus.
Keep your absurd-o-meter polished, for the current political season ...
Sunnybank Gardens, 325 Sixth St., Traverse City, welcomes visitors from around 9 a.m. most days, until evening. Hours vary. Please check the sign out front for details. Groups are welcome; please contact Dee at blairdee@gmail.com, Deeblair.com or call 929-4351 to schedule tours.
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