Parkersburg Community Web!

Home

My Gardening Corner.

Welcome
About this Site
Message board
Home
About the Editor

Gardening is one of my best passions in life.  I enjoy taking a long summer walk on a cool summer night and seeing how other’s have worked hard and decorated their homes. With the nights getting cooler now and fall just a heart beat away.  It means there are lots to do before one can put their garden to bed for the winter.

Preparing your garden for winter takes a few weeks.  The important thing is to leave one’s garden in the state you would like to find it in the spring.

You can begin by digging up all your annuals. Then, plant some shrubs. Do it while the days and the ground are still warm. Forsythia is nice to plant, as are evergreens like Cedar. They'll brighten up your garden quite nicely for the fall season.

It's also time to plant your bulbs. Remember to plant them quite deep. You want them to set roots, not to start budding. This means if it's a warm autumn, you might want to delay planting. If cold weather hasn't set in within six weeks of planting, your bulbs will start to bud. And then, they won't come up in the spring.

You should be thinking about pruning your rose bushes and protecting them until next spring.  Covering them with some mulch after you’ve pruned them down is a great way of protecting them from the winter.

Once you've completed your planting and uprooting, cover the beds with a few inches of compost - it enriches the soil for next spring. Don't worry if you cover the crowns of plants. Healthy plants will poke their heads through the mulch. Throw the compost on and turn it over a few times. But don't rake the beds smooth. Garden soil is best left rough in the fall.

Take this opportunity to clean out your compost area if you have one. That way, you don't have to do it in the spring.

Children like gardening as well and it’s never too early to get them involved in a family project.  They love to dig and play in the soil. So why not give them their own little section of the garden?   Teach them how to prepare their section of the garden for spring and then when the time is right let them chose and plant and take care of their section the following spring.  Think of the precious time you and your child/children can be spending with each other! Just remember to make sure you also teach them how to remove their shoes before entering the house after being in the garden…

    Email me at wv25@hotmail.com

September
Link
Link
Link
Link