John Hethrington has been gardening since the age of nine. He spent his early life gardening in Toronto and earned his certification as a Master Gardener before moving to Meaford where he cultivates 2.5 acres with 20 different gardens.
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After a warm dry summer, and some lovely sunny days in September, fall is definitely here with a nightly risk of frost.
There is much talk in the fall about “putting your garden to bed” I guess they mean preparing your garden for the winter. There is an annual argument among gardeners as to whether you should cut back your perennials, ornamental grasses, etc., in the fall, or leave them tall for “winter interest” with seeds for the birds. However, up here, most perennials are covered by two feet of snow, so you can’t see them anyway and there are no seeds for the birds.
Clean up in the spring can be daunting. There may be wet weather, or a late spring. For these reasons, I am opting for a big fall cleanup again this year to get a jump on spring 2023.
It’s time to trim back perennials and divide them as needed for your garden, or to give to your neighbours, or to pot them up and put them back in the soil for the St. George’s plant sale in June 2023 (and to get a tax receipt). Make sure it is a cool, cloudy day and add bone meal fertilizer to the pots and your new plantings.
Remember, October is a great time to divide and plant perennials you can buy.
Buy and plant spring flowering bulbs. Add a little bulb fertilizer, like bone meal, to the bottom of the hole and add water to the hole to get the bulb’s roots started. Your efforts now will bring big dividends in April and May 2023.
For a longer bulb bloom season, plant a variety of bulbs, like winter aconite, snowdrops and crocus. You can also plant early, middle and late-blooming tulips and daffodils for a much longer season.
Place a piece of chicken wire just under the surface of the soil over any tulip bulbs you plant. The squirrels will hate you. Daffodils should not need this protection.
If there is an early frost warning, cover tender annuals overnight with an old bed sheet. They should make it through and keep on blooming.
Bring in house plants when the evenings start to cool down, or when you get a frost warning. First give them a thorough spray with insecticidal soap, so that there are no unwanted hitchhikers coming into your home.
Fertilize lawns with a formula that has a low first number and a high middle number or with a fall formula fertilizer.
Start cutting your lawns much lower than in summer to avoid winter-matted long grass next spring.
Water shrubs, evergreens and trees weekly and deeply at least until frost.
Buy your Triple-19 fertilizer now, so you will have it to put on the snow that will be covering your perennial gardens in March.
