Gardening Tips: Putting the gardens to bed

I returned to Florida for the winter just before the deep freeze set in.

I left many last minute chores undone in my haste to get out of Dodge, but I did manage to accomplish some of these fall tasks. It is time for my annual “putting the gardens to bed” column. Here are some tips for your home landscape.

Lawns: This is not a good time to fertilize or try to plant grass seed, but lime may be applied at any time. Bring a sample of soil to your local Cornell Cooperative Extension office to test and they will tell you exactly how much lime, if any, to apply. This is also not a good time to apply broad-leaf weed killers for weeds such as dandelions, ground ivy and others. If these plants are not actively growing, the chemicals are useless. If possible mow fallen leaves into mulch, or rake them off the lawn and use them to start a compost pile. Oak leaves in particular will suffocate grass. You can still mow the grass if it is very tall, but leave it at least 2.5 inches for the winter. In a few weeks the grass will turn brown as it goes dormant.

Annuals: Pull spent annuals and scatter their seeds; some may volunteer next year i.e. impatiens, petunia, calendula, cleome, zinnia etc. Snapdragons may even survive the winter in some locations, as may pansies and primrose. Geraniums can be brought indoors and saved as houseplants, or pruned back hard and stored in the basement in their pots.

Bulbs: Dig up gladiolas, canna, dahlia, tuberous begonias, and allow them to dry out at room temperature and store in dry peat moss in a cool basement. The little bulbils that are attached to gladiolas corms may be separated and planted next year but they need several years of growth to mature into flowering size corms.

Biennials: Scatter seeds of hollyhocks, honesty and other biennials. Pull out spent plants and compost the debris.

Perennials: Cut back the tops to two or three inches, remove all spent debris, apply 2-3 inches bark or woodchip mulch when the ground freezes in late November, store wood chip or bark mulch where it will not freeze solid. It is getting too late to transplant or divide perennials.

Vegetables: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, carrots and parsnips all taste better after several frosts. Spinach and carrots as well as parsnips may overwinter if mulched with three to four inches of clean straw. Clean up the garden and remove all debris, sterilize tomato cages with a mild bleach solution, (two cups of bleach in a gallon of water) wash gourds and pumpkins with mild bleach solution also, cure winter squash at 75 degrees for two weeks, then store at 40 degrees and dry. Eat your acorn squash first; butternut squash usually stores longer with no loss of quality.

Shrubs: Do not prune spring flowering shrubs now! Remove dead wood anytime, root prune shrubs now that will be transplanted next year.

Roses: Shrub roses, wait until mid December to cut back to three or four main canes, cut at 12 inches, hill up unfrozen soil around base of grafted types (not leaves or chips) climbers: cut back to six feet, bundle canes and wrap in burlap, lay down on ground if possible.

Trees: Prune only dead or injured wood now. This is not a good time to prune trees in general. Fertilize ailing trees around Thanksgiving, using one pound 5-10-10 per inch of circumference measured at 4.5 feet above the ground.

This should keep you Yankees busy while I am fishing in the Gulf of Mexico!

Reach Bob Beyfuss at rlb14@cornell.edu.