Hill Gardens of Maine - OK...It's Fall--Wrap It Up!

Click on "Teddy" for Fred's Amazing Journey Back In Time

Answers to your gardening questions

Article Archives

Five-part article series on flower-drying starts here

Eight-part article series on vegetable gardening starts here

Asian Lily Beetles

A new scourge in New England ornamental and veggie gardens.

Japanese Beetles

They can be controlled...but not the way you think.

An effective Deer Fence!

Only three feet tall...and no deer has ever jumped over it!

OK...It's Fall. Wrap It Up!
by Fred Davis, MG, Hill Gardens of Maine (To view other articles, click Archives)

Welcome through Fred's (chilly) Garden Gate! I strolled along garden paths this morning, collar up, hands deep in jacket pockets, wishing I’d worn my silly-looking knitted cap. Crisp and bright, frost glittered on every remaining leaf and twig. A thin skin of ice will soon seal collections of rainwater in pails and wheelbarrows. Before you know it, grass blades will crunch beneath my feet. Imagine this...

Here a stiffened, green hose; there my favorite cultivator frozen to the ground looking for all the world like a very thin, very dull Excalibur. Our mower’s once bright red paint lay buried beneath this morning’s crust of tiny, sparkling, frosty diamonds.

Pitifully-drooping leaves and frost-blasted blossoms now hang where, but days ago, late-summer color instilled a mood of cheer and idyllic contentment. Now the gardens seem to groan beneath a weight of frosty sadness. Rags, the cat, even hesitated at the door before launching as usual into the fresh morning air. He was back in record time!

I’m exaggerating, of course – but not very much! It is, however, a definite wake-up call. There are things to be done! Tools to retrieve, clean, lubricate and store; gasoline to be drained from mowers, trimmers, tillers and shredders. There are hoses to be drained and coiled, then stored away from sharp snow shovels and plows. Wheelbarrows and toys, buckets and toys, pots and toys, TOYS and toys, barbecues, kiddy-pools – and did I mention toys? – to gather, clean up and haul back indoors. And over there – under those shrubs – are those forgotten – and now-hypothermic – houseplants you read about last time in this column.

There are Fall bulbs—for Spring flowers—to plant; withered, tender annuals to remove; tall, bare perennial stems to trim back; and weeds—everywhere—positively exploding out of the ground which must be dealt with before seeds scatter!.

And, while you’re tending to Fall chores, why not consider a living Christmas tree this Holiday season? Fresh and green, sending forth wonderful aromas of our cherished New England forest, a tree with real roots and buds and needles just seems more appropriate for a season steeped in traditions of renewal and rebirth, don’t you think?

Don’t forget to prepare it’s planting spot while earth remains unfrozen, though. Select a location, dig the hole, place the soil in a box or pail with some rich compost, and store it in garage or basement until holidays pass. Then immediately plant your living tree outdoors – but no food until it wakes up in the Spring!

You better get crackin’! Many chores remain. There’re lots of things to do before it all disappears beneath our ump-teenth-annual blanket of snow. Here's some over-winter reading material: "Keys to the Garden Gate"—your complimentary copy is just sittin' there waiting for you.

Our Local Weather

Find your State and County Cooperative Extension Office

Which Maine Hardiness Zone Do I Live In? (.pdf)