The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

Believe me when I say it is a tough sell to get people interested in working in the garden this time of year. First of all, the weather is usually cold, wet and windy, all of which we have been experiencing lately. Secondly, most gardeners are quite frankly tired of the whole gardening scene. And finally, with the holidays at hand, thoughts are turning to inside activities like decorating and, of course, Christmas shopping.

But if you can find the motivation to visit a garden center in November and December, you will be pleasantly surprised with the attractive arrangement of plants that have special interest for this time of year. It's not nearly as dull as one would expect. And that little visit may be just enough encouragement for you to find the energy to "Put the Garden to Bed," my topic for the two-part column this issue.

First off I have to confess that I don't like the expression "Putting the garden to bed" because, like a lot of our families, not everyone wants to go to bed at the same time. There are still plants out there that are wide awake and, believe it or not, there are some plants that react to winter with renewed energy. But overall, there is a sense of quieting in the garden and there are some specific tasks that we can do to help settle everyone down for the winter. You can pick and choose as you like.

Here's part one.

LAWNS: This summer was hard on lawns. Whether you let your lawn turn brown or kept it growing, this is the most critical month to fertilize, and the good news is that it won't make the lawn grow any faster. It should just improve the color and help it make it through the winter and have a quick spring start.

This is also a good time to apply lime. Use a good organic lawn food with 8-10 percent nitrogen and you should be good to go until spring.

The only real turf disease issue for fall and winter is red thread. This is a fungus organism that attacks grass blades and turns them pinkish-red and shrivels them up like a thread. Bonide Infuse is a newer product that is very effective in controlling stubborn cases of red thread and isn't affected by lots of rain. Improving drainage and fertility will also help.

FRUIT TREES: Sanitation is the most important consideration for fruit tree health. Clean up all leaves and dispose of them properly. Sulfur sprays are no longer on the market, so you will have to use copper for your winter dormant spray. For insects that might be overwintering on the trees, spray a horticultural oil on the branches to suffocate the eggs or critters. Do it now and again in late winter as the buds begin to swell. We'll talk about pruning later in the year.

FLOWERING TREES: Just like fruit trees, flowering trees benefit from good sanitation. Flowering cherries, pears, plums and crab apples are susceptible to the same kinds of problems their fruiting counterparts are. Do the same kind of dormant spray routine I mentioned above and you should be in good shape.

VEGETABLES: By now you should have salvaged any green tomatoes, harvested the squash and pumpkins and pulled up the corn. If you haven't planted a fall crop of veggies, you can either sow a cover crop of winter rye, crimson clover, fava beans, etc., or spread a manure mulch over the area. If you don't do this, the chickweed and henbit will take over.

For mulching larger areas I like to use a bulk product such as Chicken-Chips from De Jong Sawdust and Shavings or composted yard wastes from Cedar Grove Compost. By spring both of these products will be ready to rototill into the soil and you will have the best garden in the neighborhood.

Next we'll talk about containers, roses, berries, grapes and kiwis, bulbs and perennials and general weed control. In the meantime, send me your gardening questions so I can work them into a column for everyone's benefit.





Putting the garden to bed - Part 2



Here are some more activities for you to try and accomplish before the end of the year. Because it has been so mild, some plants have still not lost all their leaves and some perennials have not died to the ground. Trust me when I say that, at this point, they are pretty much dormant and you can just go ahead and knock off the rest of the leaves and cut things back like you normally would by this time.

BULBS: Believe it or not, you can still plant bulbs in December. In fact, that is usually when I finally get around to it anyway. So, if you still have bags of bulbs sitting in the garage or on the back porch that you bought back in September, get them planted. You might even still be able to find more at your local garden center. You will never regret planting too many bulbs come spring. Throw some extra bulb food or bone meal in the hole too, and it will give you bigger and brighter colored flowers.

FLOWERS: There is no need to look at empty beds or containers all winter long. You can plant pansies and violas and lots of evergreen perennials and small shrubs that add foliar color and texture all through the winter. A visit to the garden center will show you just how creative you can get with winter arrangements. I also like to reserve a few containers for just bulbs that I can bring into view when they start growing and then remove when they are past their prime.

BERRIES: For raspberries and blackberries, it is most important to remove the canes that produced fruit this year. You really should have done it in the summer. The remaining canes can be shortened up a bit and secured to a wire/trellis system. Blueberries only need a light pruning to remove any dead wood and to shape them. Strawberries need to be rejuvenated every few years. Use the runners to replace the mother plants for two or three years and then throw the whole lot away and buy some new ones.

GRAPES AND KIWIS: These plants are vigorous vines that need serious pruning every year once they are established. Your best bet is to visit your garden center so they can show you first hand how to prune these vines. Basically, you need to remove most of the twiggy growth so that all that is left is the main trunk and short side shoots (laterals) four to six inches in length and spaced every foot along the main trunk. Insufficient pruning leads to too many fruits that are too small to enjoy.

ROSES: Remember "Hip high in the fall, knee high in the spring." This is how you should be pruning most of your roses. Climbing roses need to be secured to their trellis and the long canes shortened up just a little bit. These long canes will produce your first crop of flowers next spring, so don't cut them back too far. After pruning and thoroughly cleaning around the base of the rose, apply some lime and then pile up some mulch about 10-12 inches high to protect the graft union from a really ugly winter. Chances are that if you didn't do this last winter, you lost your roses. A couple of bucks for mulch is a small price to pay for ensuring that your roses are going to survive the winter.

PERENNIALS: When I think of perennials I tend to put them into two camps, sticks and mushers. The mushers are the ones like hostas that mush to the ground at the first frost. These are easy to clean up at that point. Sticks are the ones like asters that turn brown but remain woody. Cut them half way back to the ground, and in spring, as the new growth emerges from the base, remove the rest of the old growth. I suppose there is a third camp which would be the evergreen ones like Bergenia and Heuchera, which just need some grooming to keep them looking good all winter.

FINALLY, after all the pruning and cleaning and staking is done, it is time to decide whether you are a Messy Mollie or a Neat Nellie. That discussion will be the topic for next time as we finish up the gardening season.