Fall jobs

Most people look at gardening in the fall as "clean up" time.  I think of it more as "evaluate" time.  There is a relaxed pace to fall days - not so much planting and weeding and watering as in the spring and summer.  The last of the flowers are either blooming or about to bloom.  Everything is established.  Here are the jobs  I have come up with after taking a long, hard look at my growing environment.

1. Move.  Lots of perennials need to be moved.  I planted daisies in my pastel section in the spring, and they are very happy.  They would look better if I moved them over to the left a bit.  The lavender that is to their right has finally established itself, and the daisies are being crowded by it.

One of my favorite plants, asclepias tuberosa, (butterfly weed) spread a few years ago.  I am going to remove the plant that is in the front of the border, and move my sedum 'Autumn Joy" to where the asclepias  tuberosa was.  The sedum has been suffering because my anise hyssop has been so happy and is overshadowing the sedum.

I am also going to move some Russian sage that is in one of my sunny borders.  The plant has a lovely way of bending and bowing over its neighbors.  I like this effect more in the back of the border than in the front, where it tends to confuse the eye.

 

2. Fertilize.  I tested my soil recently and found that the earth was deficient in everything - nitrogen, phosphorous, and potash (potassium).  I will fertilize my beds and lawn in the next few weeks with organic fertilizer, and test again in the spring.  Once I get on a more regular feeding schedule, I hope that my lawn and perennials are happier.  I bought the testing kit at a local hardware store.  It helps to have distilled water and patience; other than that, testing is pretty easy.

3. Top dress.  I bought a few bags of good quality top soil, and spread it out thinly over the really sad parts of my lawn.  Two of the sections had been leveled, enhanced, and re-seeded in the last twelve months.  I don't think I did a bad job last year, I just think that the lawn was stressed by the harsh winter, the animals burrowing in the soil, and the very dry summer.  I did not spend lots of time top dressing, and I plan on buying several more bags of top soil to dress the rest of the lawn.  I did put down more grass seed, and the grass has sprouted.

4. Water.  We had a really dry summer.  There has been some rain in the last few weeks, which helps.  I still need to water, especially where I put down the grass seed.  The trees and shrubs need water, too.  Some of my rhododendrons look exhausted.