Sunday, November 22, 2015

Gardening Season is Over

Last night the temperature dropped into the low 29s and it was very cold.  We had our first hard frost of the season and with that, the gardening season had ended.  

 

Today I went out to the garden and did cut back the remaining foliage to the soil line and then covered the gardens with mulch. The garden season is over and all that is left is my grass gardens. They will add interest to my yard for the next several weeks or until the spring flowers start to bloom.

  Photo of my end-of-season grass garden




I will miss my time in the garden as I am one who enjoys my garden very much. The only thing that is left is to plant some daffodils that my husband bought at Lowes today. He was able to get a bag of 40 bulbs for $6.98 

Know that as long as the ground is not completely frozen you can still plant the bulbs. I think I will cut back the chrysanthemum that is in the large containers and plant some daffodils. Then come spring these containers will look nice and add curb appeal to the front of the house.





Here are some articles on spring bulbs that you may like.

How to plant daffodils tulips and crocus

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Manicuring Flower Gardens in Late Fall


We had a mild frost last week and many of my plants were affected so since it was warm today I spent the afternoon in the garden. Today the temperature was 64 degrees Fahrenheit, a perfect temperature for gardening in late fall.

My main objective today was to cut back the daylilies, the four O’clock s, and the zinnia flowers to the ground. I was also gathering any remaining seeds from the flower heads. In addition to manicuring of the gardens, I was hoping that I had time to prune the rose bushes.

When all the garden maintenance work was done I would apply the mulch my husband made for me with his wood chipper. He gathered fallen branches from our meadow and used the small chipper that we bought at lowes.com to create organic garden mulch.


So I started gardening in the back garden close to the woods entrance. My husband was relaxing on the patio, he was 46 feet from me. It was comforting he was in the yard, if I need him he was there. I was busy working when I heard my husband laugh and I thought he had read something funny. I smiled and waved, then turned to go back to work. There was a patch of stubborn grasses that needed to be dug out so I turned to grab my garden tool belt and found my hand shovel was missing.


I looked for it in the garden shed, in the greenhouse, and even in the mud room. My hand shovel was gone and my husband was laughing. So I asked him "did you take my shovel" and he shook his head no.


I swore I brought my garden hand tools out of the shed before I started my work. But since I could not find my hand tools I went to get the shovel. Before I went to search for my full-size garden shovel in the tool shed I took off my work gloves and laid them on top of the wheelbarrow. I got the shovel, went to put on my gloves and they were gone. My husband laughing so I assumed he had been sneaking up on me and taking my garden supplies. Right?


My husband says "it wasn't me" Then pointed up at the maple tree that is closest to me and there I see the garden tool thief. Up the tree is the raccoon Lucy that we rescued in the spring after her mom was poached by hunters. Lucy came out of the woods and was sneaking up on me, she took all of my garden supplies and was hiding them at the base of the oak tree.

I had a good laugh, and it is hard to be mad at a junior raccoon especially when these orphans don't know to stay out of sight during daylight hours. This little girl was sneaking up on me and taking my things and that was funny



 It is safe to say that I could care about raccoons in my yard, but if you find that they are a nuisance and want to keep them out of your yard, then read my article on how to get rid of raccoons without hurting the,