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| EXECUTIVE BOARD 2008 - 2009 |
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“A garden is evidence of faith. It links us with all the misty figures of the past who also planted and were nourished by the fruits of their planting.” - Gladys Taber; Stillmeadow Sampler |
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GOOD GARDENING LINKS
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FALL GARDENING INSURES A SPECTACULAR SPRING GARDEN
This is the time of year when the spring garden is set in motion. What a gardener does in their garden this time of year can insure a spectacular show in the spring. The days of fall are pleasant temperatures and sunny as opposed to the sometimes rainy and damp spring in New England. Working in warm ground with crisp autumn air is far better than the muddy slosh of April. So get out and work in the garden to insure a lovely spring show.
As the plants start to heed the call to prepare for winter, they are ready for what you want to do. Dig and divide perennials and move shrubs, It is the best time of year to move any plants as the roots have a long time to establish in cool days before the ground freezes. Iris, lilies and peonies especially like to be moved this time of year. This is such a good time of year to make plant moving judgments while one can still see the plants standing in the garden. In spring they are just a hazy memory. You’ll forget who needs more sun or more room or whose colors clash.
Now is the time to plant bulbs as well. Schedule your bulbs to bloom from March through June to insure exciting color throughout the spring. Bulb gardens are the one place in the garden you can feed in the fall to insure strong blooms. Let all other perennials go to sleep and fertilize in the spring. Your existing bulbs are just beginning their fall rooting now, so if you unearth any of your tulips or daffodils while doing fall chores, just put them back and they probably won't know they were out of the ground.
If you have weedy sections in your beds, whether from perennial weeds like quack grass or ajuga or invasive perennials like bee balm (Monarda), now is the time to gain control. Work the patch by lifting the good perennials and setting them aside while you dig and comb the area for all roots and rhizomes that remain. Finish by carefully loosening the roots of the perennials you lifted and removing any traces of foreign roots hiding there before gently putting them back. Don't forget to water well to settle them in. This kind of weeding, done in the fall, is worth more to your garden than all you can do in summer. After you have once seen the results, you will always want to do this.
Enjoy the beautiful days of fall but be sure to think spring!
MGC STUDY GROUP
From Diane Christian: The study group had a meeting and a nice lunch at Darcie’s house. We talked about the information we have gathered thus far. We also standardized the information and created a common form that we distributed to all study group members.
We will be meeting sometime in the fall to review the information that was gathered on shrubs. Each study group member is responsible for researching and writing on the standard form, 8 to 10 shrubs. Given that most members have computers, we are planning on storing the shrub information electronically and hope we can post the information to the MGC website. When we meet this fall, we will go through all of the shrubs and their descriptions and further cull the list of shrubs to a final master list appropriate for planting at the Lee Mansion. Our goal is two fold: To supply the Garden Club and Lee Mansion with a list of appropriate shrubs for the Garden, and to generate a list for all members of period shrubs that can be planted in zones 4 to 6.
Study Group members also have a place on the form where they can submit their own advice and information on particular plants and their experiences growing them.
From Beth Willard & Anne Clark, Garden Advisory Co-Chair: Greetings! As cooler weather quickly approaches, we are all thinking of what needs to be done in our gardens to protect our plants from the cold months ahead. This is what’s happening at the Lee Mansion Gardens, as well. Garden heads should be thinking about what plants in their garden areas need to be protected in winter months with marsh hay. Marsh hay is put down after the first frost in the fall to protect the ground from freezing and thawing during the winter months..
We are also doing a lot of cutting back and pruning of plants, so that they will have a good start in the spring. I’m not sure if you are all aware, but we are in charge of cleaning out our own beds in the spring. As much clean up as we can get done now, will save time in the spring, when we are preparing for our plant sale!
