Beverley Square West Association

In the Garden Corner 9-10/09 Vera Julia Gordon

Oct 02, 2009

October
It?’s truly autumn now ?– and a month of contrasts and changes. We can have warm, soft, golden days and also chilly foretastes of winter. The leaves will be turning, and begin to fall. That means leaves to your compost pile. The city is no longer doing separate leaf pickups and, therefore, there will be no compost giveaways. (But I?’ll let you know if the Park Slope garden at 6 Av and 15 St will be taking leaf bags this year- Ed.)
Garden cleanup for the winter season begins now and is ongoing. As annuals end their year, pull them up and compost them. As perennials wind down, cut the stems to about four inches (so you know where they are) and compost them. Of course, no diseased plants or leaves go to compost; they go to Sanitation. Long wisteria ?“whips?” need to be monitored. I found one that was spiraling up a drainpipe, all twenty feet of it, so I pulled it down and out of the way. If you can, wait until November to cut it, so the nutrients can have a chance to translocate to the roots. When you go out into your yard, take hand pruners, two bags (one for compost and one for Sanitation) and a camera ?– because the next time the butterfly won?’t be there or the autumn crocus may have faded. Listen to weather forecasts and harvest tomatoes before frost to ripen indoors; you can pick them any time, really, so as to beat the squirrels. Tomato plants go to Sanitation, as well as rose and lilac leaves.
Non-hardy plants which have summered on deck or patio should be brought inside before furnaces kick on. I suggest a good watering and spraying with an insecticide a few days before you bring them in. Once they are indoors, check for insects and water needs on a regular basis. Fertilize lightly until March when you will begin to get them ready for May 2010 set-out. Harvest herbs and dry them. My preference is to put them in paper bags on the radiator for two or three days; strip off the leaves and put them in opaque jars labeled with variety and year. If your herbs are in pots, bring them in and grow them on a sunny windowsill. My chives never come in; they are perennials and will push new growth even in winter warm spells. If any roses bloom, cut the flowers to enjoy indoors. Leave stems until mid-November and then cut back just enough so you do not have a topknot of leaves that can pull the stem over if snowed upon. In March, cut the bush roses to one foot ?– not now. Cut climbers in March when you train out the canes in horizontals.
Take cuttings of impatiens and root them for planting in spring and for winter color indoors. Amaryllis should be taken from their pots and laid in the sun to force them into dormancy. Cover with a tarp whenever rain is forecast so they will not start to grow. Once the leaves begin to yellow, repot them and put them in a dark, cool place (cellar, closet, heated garage) until December when you can start them growing for winter blossoming. Poinsettias should be placed in a dark closet every night and do not open the closed door until morning when you take them to a sunny window. Start about October 16, and continue the routine for 40 days and nights. One year, to avoid this process, I put them in a room not used at night, and nightly pulled down the shade to exclude light so no street lights or moonlight could reach them. Keep them growing with water and half-rate fertilizer.
If you grow caladiums, you can try to save the corms (like bulbs) by pulling them up in late October when the foliage withers, take off the foliage and spread the corms out in a single layer in a cool dark place. Sprinkle with water about every three weeks or so. I have never been successful, but it is worth trying. Plant your spring flowering bulbs (daffodils, alliums, tulips, crocuses, etc.) in late October-early November. Use a slow release fertilizer as you plant.
Enjoy the quiet pleasures of your fall garden, and the wild and cultivated asters everywhere, and remember to weed and water as necessary.