October 21, 2024
The plants in my daughter’s window looked rather sickly and tired.
“What can I do for them?” She asked.
“They are starving.” I told her. “They need nourishment.”
Nutrients in house plants often leach out of their pots resulting in plants that are vulnerable to decline. A light dose of “plant food,” half the recommended dosage or less, will usually encourage the plant to take up nourishment and the yellowish-green foliage will begin to “green up.”
Increase the fertilizer percentage to about three-quarters in subsequent waterings until the plant is thriving again.
House plants don’t usually need additional fertilizer during the winter because of the shorter daylight time. Artificial lighting doesn’t seem to replicate the powerful live-giving effects of the sunshine so eliminate the fertilizer and reduce watering. Always check the requirements of house plant species and varieties for information about specific care. Overwatering house plants in the wintertime can encourage fungal diseases and root rot.
As to the hundreds of thousands of leaves in my yard from the once green canopies of shade from the deciduous trees, I am concerned my raking schedule does not match my energy level.
In the past I have managed to construct mountains of the elusive little devils only to have them blown into crevices and crannies I could only reach with the handle of my rake. Some years snow covered my multicolored carpet and I didn’t take the rake out of the shop until spring.
Still, I incorporated the partially decomposed leaves in my gardens. The compost wasn’t as complete as leaves I incorporated in the fall but my summer veggies appreciated them nonetheless.
As the season of gardening winds down, it is encouraging to know that as long as the ground is not frozen we can still transplant most trees, shrubs and perennials. It is an ideal time to plant spring flowering bulbs (be sure the point of the bulb is up) and to plant or overseed lawns. Boxwood, Euonymous Burning Bush, and many varieties of spirea can be pruned before winter.
You still have time to prepare your roses, but not much. The last roses of summer are still on many of our rose bushes. Enjoy them then prepare your roses for winter. I only plant roses that are grown on their own rootstock. They are hardier than grafted roses. I usually trim them back a bit, remove weak or damaged canes and apply a mulch of pine needles and leaves to insulate them. Sometimes I incorporate garden soil from my compost bin. In the spring there is usually winter kill so I cut that back and the viable canes will flourish.
My gardens still have tall, full seeded grasses and seeds in spent echinacea, rudbeckia, columbine and bachelor buttons. The consequence of this messy garden is that pollinators will have found shelter and breeding places and many varieties of birds will visit throughout the long cold season.
– Contact Master Gardeners by email: [email protected] or call 509-477-2181 for more information regarding preparing your gardens for winter
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