There is still time to plant bulbs.

It is also a great time to get trees, shrubs and your winter color perennials planted. Plants to consider would be winter pansies, kale, hellebores (winter roses), wintergreen and grasses just to mention a few. After planting put a nice layer of mulch down to protect the roots, encourage earthworms and discourage weeds, we suggest Gardner & Bloom Soil Building Compost it is 100% natural and organic, provides essential nutrients for plant growth, it will also help loosen and improve hard compacted clay soil.

Now is not the time to forget about your vegetable garden. For those established gardens, clean out spent plants into the compost pile, add Soil Building Compost or compost from your own pile, this will encourage earthworms. When this is completely mixed in plant a cover crop such as crimson clover, then in the early spring you will simply turn your cover crop under.

Next on the to-do list is to clean up and cut back your gardens before winter sets in. Your will want to pull or hoe weeds that have recently germinated, mulch all your gardens this will protect your plants from frost, and your gardens from erosion and your soil from becoming compacted, it also adds much need organic matter to the soil.

Cut back late flowering perennials such as asters and mums to a few inches above the soil. Peonies and bleeding hearts should be cut all the way to the ground and their crowns, mulch to protect them from hard freezes. Get rid of all those summer annuals that have died back, clean up all leaves around your rose bushes, any kind of bugs or fungus on fallen leaves will show up next year so it is best to get them pick up and in the garbage not your compost pile. Trees and shrubs should be pruned to prevent winter storm breakage.

Finally lets not forget about our feathered friends. You’ve been feeding them all summer, they love your yard and are counting on you to get them through the winter so keep those feeders full, after they have finished feasting on the bounty of seeds and berries this time of year they will remember your feeder and expect them to be full. Some foods to offer would be black oil sunflower seeds, a good quality seed mix and suet. Your birds will be Happy, Happy, Happy!!!!

If you like feeding the squirrels corn cobs, and nuts should keep them happy. To prevent them from burying nut all over your yard provide them with shelled nuts. Are squirrels eating your bulbs? When planting them try covering your bulbs with a ½” to 1” size chicken wire (you can find this at your local hardware store) and cover with dirt, this will discourage those crafty squirrels and bulbs have no problem growing through the mesh.

Posted: December 1st, 2008 under Birding, Winter.
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