10 tips to prepare your yard and garden for winter

Posted on October 20, 2024 by John Kevin Hickey

There is an old adage that the gardening year starts on January 1st. I would make the argument that mid-to-late autumn is the actual start date for next year’s garden. Doing some late season yard and garden maintenance now, can pay huge dividends come springtime.

I’ve stated numerous times that I am no garden expert. I’m not a Master Gardener. I have no college degree in horticulture or landscape design. What I do have is over 30 years in making mistakes in the Vintage Garden. Many, many mistakes. However, I have learned much from those mistakes. And that is the important thing when one messes up. Don’t make the same mistakes again.

So here a few things I have learned to do in my own lawn and garden to prepare it for the long winter ahead.

1. Feed your lawn with a winter fertilizer

Autumn is in my mind without doubt the best time to fertilize your lawn. I tell you why in a moment, but first, a little background. When you purchase a fertilizer, you will see three numbers on the packaging. For example: 6-2-3. These number are referred to as N-P-K, and indicate the percentage of certain nutrients that the fertilize supplies. The first number (N) is how much Nitrogen will be available to the plant (assuming one applies the correct amount according to directions). Nitrogen helps with plant growth, as well as supplying the nutrients necessary for the plant to produce chlorophyll. The second number (P) stands for phosphorous, which plants need to create a healthy root system. Finally, the third number (K) stands for Potassium, which is important for overall plant health and productivity. Of course, there are usually micronutrient included as well, but lets stick to the big 3.

I like to use an organic fertilizers on my lawn, specifically ones that use dried out chicken poop, or DPW (dehydrated poultry waste). Organic fertilizers are usually slow release, which means their nutrients are available over a longer period of time. And they don’t just feed the plants. They also feed all the little critters microbes so important for healthy soil.

The fall fertilizer I like to use (and I want to make clear I am not being paid to recommend them) is Richlawn Winterizer (https://therichlawncompany.com/) . Richlawn is a Colorado company, and their fertilizers are formulated specifically to work in our alkaline soils The winterizer has an N-P-K of 12–2–6, along with the addition of iron & Sulphur. These extra amendments are very important for gardeners in the West. Iron in alkaline soils is very hard for plants to extract. Sulphur helps acidify soil. By adding Sulphur, the soil is temporarily less alkaline. The iron supplement is in ferrous form, which the grasses can more readily access.

I should note that you want to get your fall fertilizer down while the grass is still green. Here along Colorado’s Front Range, it is often suggested putting it down sometime around Columbus Day.

An application of fertilizer in autumn will help the lawn endure the harsh winter months ahead.

2. Lower the height of your lawnmower deck

During the months of July and August, and even into early September, I like to raise the height of the deck of my lawnmower to its highest setting. If you aren’t doing so yourself, you really should. The taller the grass means there is more surface area exposed to the sun. More sunlight means more photosynthesizing, which means stronger plants. Taller grass blades also means the plant can support longer and stronger roots.

The tall grass blades also shade the soil, which means less water loss. Win/win all around.

But come fall, I gradually lower my mower deck height for a couple of reasons. Come winter, if the grass is too tall the snow will mash the blades down, forming a dense mat. This mat can trap moisture underneath, and that can lead to a host of fungal problems. When the warm weather of spring arrives, brown rings known as “fairy rings” will become obvious. And dealing with fungal diseases in the lawn is a pain in the ass. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.

Another problem is the potential for turf die-off. Believe it or not, many turf grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, do not go completely dormant over the winter. If you were do go out in the middle of winter to closely inspect your lawn, you would notice little streaks of green blades mixed in with the dormant brown turf. The grass is still photosynthesizing throughout the winter months, albeit not as actively as it does in summer. That mat of smushed grass can become a form of mulch, and actually kill the turf underneath.

Let me be clear, I don’t scalp my lawn in the winter. That too can stress the lawn. My mower has 6 height settings. I only lower mine down two settings, which reduces the grass length just enough to prevent flopping, without stressing the turf too much.

3. Remove fallen leaves from the lawn

Along those lines, I always try to get as many leaves that have fallen the from trees and shrubs off the lawn as I can before the winter sets in. Leaves can also mat down and kill the sod underneath. I don’t bother raking them however. That’s too much work. I just drag out the mower and mulch them suckers. Provides extra nutrients for the lawn.

As far as the leaves that fall in the garden borders, I just leave them. They act like mulch, adding another layer to the mulch that is already there. This helps to protect the perennials and shrubs from the bitter cold. Come springtime, I rake some of them leaves onto the lawn, and mulch them with the mower. Some I leave in the beds. As they breakdown over time they create a form of leaf mold, which is very beneficial for the garden.

4. Clean and maintain your lawnmower before putting it to bed for the winter

Speaking the the lawnmower, once all the turf and mulching tasks are completed, I give ol’ Bessie a little TLC. The first thing I do is to try and run the mower out of gas before finishing up for the season. I do this so I can turn the mower on its side without have gas pour out of the engine. Plus, leaving gas in the tank can lead to gummed up fuel lines. If there is too much gas leftover, I will usually purchase a fuel stabilizer. You can get this from an auto parts store, or even your local grocer. I rarely have to do this as I am pretty good at gauging just how much gas to fill it with I need to get me through the autumn chores.

First, I give the mower a thorough cleaning, starting with scraping the compacted grass blades off the underside of the deck. Then a wash the topside and bottom side with a strong blast of water. I let it dry off, and the store it in the shed until called upon in the spring.

If it’s been a few years since the oil has been changed, I’ll do it before I clean it. It’s a pain in the butt, but fresh oil will make the machine last longer.

Autumn would be a good time to take the lawnmower blade off and take it somewhere to be sharpened. But I rarely do so. There’s no compelling reason why I don’t. I just don’t want to. That is problem for future me to deal with.

5. Store fragile containers somewhere safe

When the days grow short and the temperatures drop, it’s time to clean up the terra cotta and porcelain containers for the winter. I dump the pots into the trash, potting soil and all. Leaving potting soil in fragile containers over winter can lead to cracks and fractures in the walls of the pots. This is caused by the wet potting soil (assuming we get snow) expanding and contracting during the freezing/thawing periods we get here in Colorado during the winter.

Once I’ve dumped the soil out, I scrub the pots good with a dry brush and store them in the shed. Nursery and online sources sell double-fired terra cotta pots, but they are extraordinarily expensive, so we have none. Whiskey barrel and concrete containers will usually weather winter just fine. Plastic pots will too, but they will become faded and brittle over time.

You’ll note that the container in the picture above is actually full of potting soil. That’s because I have planted a variety pack of tulip bulbs in them. After planting the bulbs, I water the pot deeply and then let the soil dry out some. Eventually, I will store the pot in our shed. Most spring flowering bulbs require a certain chilling period. I used to store my potted bulbs in the garage, but I found that the garage stays too warm over the winter for the bulbs to get the chilling period they require. I would get foliage in the spring, but no flowers. Let me reassure you that I have never had a bulb-potted container crack while it was stored in the shed.

6. Cut back foliage of peonies

Ol’ MrVintageMan does not cut back his perennial garden borders in the fall. There’s a few reason why this is so. Aesthetics for one. When I go into the yarden in winter, I don’t particularly care to look at swaths of bare soil. Winter is depressing enough without that. I think “winter interest” in the garden is an oxymoron, but I must admit there is some pleasure is seeing all the dried stalks of last years perennials and grasses standing upright on a bright winter day. And when they are covered by frost or a light dusting of snow, the effect can be quite a sight.

Another reason I leave well enough alone is that some of the seed heads of the plants can be a food source for birds over the hard winter months. Coneflowers, black-eyed susans, sages and some of the ornamental grasses fill the bill.

Finally, the plants and fallen leaves can provide protection for beneficial insects and animals. Pests too, but you gotta take the bad with the good. They also protect the crowns of the plants themselves.

In the words of Pee-Wee Herman: “but, but but. Everybody has a big but”. But, there is one exception to the rule, and that’s the peonies. Peonies are susceptible to a fungal disease called ‘botrytis’. Botrytis usually attacks the plants in wet springs, can cause deformations to the leaves, stems, and even the flowers of the peony. Fortunately, botrytis is easily controlled. Botrytis spores overwinter in the fallen leaves of the peony, so I cut the plants to the ground after the first hard freeze, and haul the whole mess to the trash can. If you compost, I wouldn’t recommend composting peony leaves.

7. Remove the carcasses of old plants from the veggie garden

One section of the garden I do clean up in the fall is the veggie border. Modern vegetable plants are so overbred that they have few natural defenses anymore. It is important to remove all the old foliage, and any stray tomatoes, squash, peppers or other veggies missed during harvesting, to prevent disease/fungal problems from overwintering in the soil. Pests like to hide out in old foliage to survive the winter cold.

I used to amend and till the soil of the veggie border in the fall with compost or manure, but I no longer do that. I’ve become something of a disciple of the no-dig method. When you till the soil, you destroy the the homes of beneficial bugs and bacteria, as well as tearing up beneficial fungi. Yes, there are indeed beneficial fungi in the soil, and they are important. So, now I just put the compost on top, and let the earthworms and other critters do the work for me of pulling the good stuff into the ground.

8. Plant bulbs for a spring display

With all these tasks I’ve got going on, I feel I should take some time to do some, you know, actual gardening. And planting spring flowering bulbs fits the bill. I realize I am publishing this post a little late in the season. Trying to get bulbs now might be nigh impossible. I either order my bulbs online in late August or pick them up from local nurseries in September. Make a note to yourself to get yourself some spring flowering next year. Your future self will thank you.

9. Clean and oil tools

The end is in sight for autumn chores. Now that most of the projects are done, it’s time to for me to clean and oil my tools. Mud and dirt left on tools can lead to rust and decay, shortening the life of said tools. And as expensive as tools are, it behooves us to maintain them properly.

I use a wire brush with a scraper on the end to get the worst of the dirt and dried mud off. I then use a soft bristle brush and soapy water to clean the tool thoroughly. Rinse and allow them to dry off. Then I use a file to provide a nice, sharp edge on my loppers, pruners and shovels. Finally, I apply a coating of 3-in-1 oil (don’t wipe it off!), then store the tools in the shed for the season.

If you have wooden handled tools, applying a coat of mineral spirits to the wood would be a good idea.

10. Drain garden hoses

I don’t take my hoses in during the winter. I should, but I don’t. In the backyard, I like to fill up the birdbath on warm winter days so the birdies can get a drink. And hauling the hose in and out is too much of a hassle. And the reason I don’t take the front hose in is because I would have to disconnect the reel from the wall, and that’s an even bigger hassle.

So, if like me you don’t want to bring the hoses is, I have a solution for you. I simply drain them. In the front, I unspool the whole hose while leaving it connected to the reel, and drag it down down the gutter. We have a moderately steep front yard, and when I roll the hose back up, the water in the hose drains downhill. Ta-da!

The back hose is in a reel box, so that one is a little more tricky. I haul the box up onto the deck, then unspool the hose into the yard. The deck is about 3 feet higher than the lawn, so the same principle applies: water flows downhill.

Important caveat: My reels both have a short hose that connects them to the spigots. I always disconnect these hoses from the spigots in winter, only connecting them temporarily when I need to water something.

Finally, time to rest

Now that the garden is put to bed, it is time for the gardener to rest as well. The nights have grown long, the sun is but a pale orb, and the temperatures are starting to drop down into the twenties and teens. Snow will be flying very soon. Now it’s time for me to head inside, warm up my cold and tired dogs in front of the fireplace, and dream of next year’s garden.

Nighty-night garden!

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Now that it’s fall, it’s time to make some changes in the front yard

Posted on October 6, 2024 by John Kevin Hickey

Last week I posted about all the autumn projects I have planned for the backyard (see: https://www.mrvintageman.com/autumn-is-here-which-means-its-time-to-get-back-out-into-the-garden/). Thankfully, I don’t have has many front yard projects planned as I do in the backyard. I mostly intend to swap out a few plants that aren’t performing as well as I would like with ones I think will do better, also add a few shade plants to a dry shade area, and finally I’ll replace three ornamental grasses that died over the summer.

To start with, let’s take a look at the little border that is right outside our front window. On either side of this trellis is a Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass. I planted these here to match the feather reed grasses on the other side of the little sidewalk that leads to our front door. I was hoping to create the impression of a path going through a grassy field.

Look on either end and you can kind of see the pathetic feather reed grasses I planted here last year.

Alas, my hopes were dashed. I am pretty sure that the area is in too much shade for this type of grass to do well. In the photo below, you can see how puny and pathetic one of them looks.

Sad

For comparison, this is how the same variety of grasses look on the other side of the sidewalk. Quite a contrast, don’t you think?

So, in their place I am going to plant a shade loving Japanese forest grass. If you remember from last week’s post, I am going to plant a variety of Japanese forest grass named Hakonechloa ‘Aureola’ in front of the deck in the backyard. Out here in the front, I am going to replace the feather reed grasses with two Hakonechloa ‘Beni-Kaze’. Unlike the ‘Aureola’ grass, ‘Beni-Kaze’ is not variegated. Instead, it is a solid, bright green grass that turns a reddish-gold color in autumn.

Japanese forest grasses are not particularly waterwise. But that’s OK, for I also have a Hosta, a couple of clematis vines, and a Japanese anemone (a fall bloomer) growing in the same border, and they aren’t all that waterwise either. Since the area is literally right in front of the water spigot, it is no hassle for me to turn on the hose and water the area on a weekly basis during the hotter months.

Raised bed

Moving over a few feet, we come to the raised border on the other side of the front door. It’s a terrible picture, but the border is too wide to fit in a single frame, so it’ll have to do. This border is a source of frustration for me. The end closest to the front door is in almost full shade. The other end gets about 5-6 hours of blazing hot sun in the afternoons. Very tough conditions to get plants to thrive in such dissimilar conditions.

Below you can more plants I bought on sale in August. These will go in shadier spots of the border. In the clay pot you see two Brunnera ‘Sea Hearts’. If you look closely, you can see that the leaves are primarily silver, with green veining running through. Every thing I have read said that ‘Sea Hearts’ stands up to summer heat better than most variegated Brunneras. That silver foliage should help light up the shady recesses of the border.

The two darker plants are Ajuga ‘Bronze Beauty’. Ajuga is somewhat notorious for being a garden thug, and can take over a garden bed. I’m not too concerned (famous last words), because the area is a dry shade spot which will make it a little tougher for them to spread, and because they are going into a raised bed I’m hoping they won’t be able to be able to jump into other areas.

The Ajuga has blue flower spikes that bloom in spring, and the foliage stays green/bronze even in the deepest shade. It prefers moist soil, but mine will have to be a bit tougher than it would prefer.

Going back to the picture of the raised bed, there are three daylily’s planted in there that I don’t think are too happy about their light conditions. I’ll see how they do next summer, but if they look as anemic as they did this year, I’ll move them to someplace more to their liking. In their place, I may plant three more Japanese forest grasses.

Stay tuned.

Replacing the dead grasses

Finally, I’ve got three native ornamental grasses that need to replace the ones that died when I nearly killed all the plants in the waterwise front yard (see: https://www.mrvintageman.com/this-week-in-the-garden-oops-i-messed-up/).

Once again, I got these on sale in August. Seen here is one Panicum ‘Northwind’ switch grass, and two Little Bluestem ‘Standing Ovations”. I will make sure I pamper these babies next year to improve their chances of survival.

And that completes my plans for autumn. Well, I will be planting some spring flower bulbs is a couple of weeks. And I need to clean and oil my tools. Oh, and I should clean out the shed.

Sigh. No rest for the wicked, or for the gardener.

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Autumn is here! Which means it’s time to get back out into the garden.

Posted on September 29, 2024 by John Kevin Hickey

Here’s a dirty little secret about Ol’ MrVintageMan: I don’t do a whole lot of gardening in the month of August. Disgraceful, I know. I spend all winter pining for the growing season to start. I become ecstatic when the garden bursts into bloom in April and May. June is an absolute delight. Even through the heat of July I am enjoying the little slice of Eden we have created on our suburban plot.

Come the first of August though, and I bid the garden adieu for awhile. I wave to my plants and tell them “alright guys, I’m going to be inside for the next 4 to 6 weeks. You’re pretty much on your own until sometime in September. Good luck”! Then I retreat to the air-conditioned sanctuary of the house, only coming out in the evening when the temps have cooled off a bit to relax in the hammock for a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I still do some things in the yarden. Mostly mow, weed and water. Lots and lots of watering. There is a lot less mowing then there was in May and June, mostly because at least half the lawn has gone dormant from the heat. The only sections of the grass that are green are the areas around the sprinkler heads, or the parts that are shaded by the trees or the deck.

I really hit the weeds early and hard this year, so weeding hasn’t been too much of a chore in late summer. Which is good, because one the the most aggravating things about gardening is unsuccessfully wrestling a weed out the ground while being fried by the blazing sun.

Greeting old friends

But come autumn, and the garden (and the gardener) becomes renewed. It’s a joy to go back outside, even in mid-afternoon. With the cooler temperatures the plants start to recover and thrive again. There’s no doubt that I harbor a certain wistfulness around this time of year, as I become all too aware that there are only a few more weeks of the growing season left. But that melancholy fades away as the late summer and the autumn blooms appear.

On a gardening podcast I listen to, one of the hosts stated that when autumn arrives gardeners go back out into the garden and greet their plants like they are old friends whom they haven’t seen in a while.

Great, autumn is back. So what do I plan to do about it?

Lots actually. In fact, I have so many gardening plans I may have to divide them into two blog posts. Today’s post concerns my plans for the backyard.

To start with, I am going to do something once and for all to this area of the Long Border in the backyard.

Not very attractive, is it?

I have tried numerous times to get this area to fill in with no luck. The plants I have put in here have all been tough, waterwise plants, but as you can see the spot looks atrocious and barren. And for years I could never figure out why nothing would grow well here.

This summer I finally got my answer. You can barely see it, but in the back of the photo is the stump of the Alberta spruce I cut down earlier this year (see: https://www.mrvintageman.com/this-week-in-the-garden-odds-and-ends/). In early September, on a relatively cool day, I dug out that stump. For the most part it wasn’t too hard. Most of the roots were about the size of one of my fingers, and easily cut with a pair of loppers. There was, however, an enormous root that went from the stump to the lawn, and it just so happened to be just below the area in question. It was easily as big as my wrist, and I had to chop the sucker out with an axe.

Now with the offending root gone, I am going to fill the area in with these tough, drought tolerant plants.

You see here the collection of plants I bought on sale in August. There’s one Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) called “Denim and Lace”, that is supposed to be more compact and not quite as lanky as the species. There’s two “Hidcote” lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia) which come from the dry, rocky areas of the Mediterranean. There are three North American native “Goldsturm” black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia). And one hens and chicks (Sempervivum) succulent. Most of these plants typically start blooming in late July and early August. My hope is that they will provide a “pop” of color in mid-summer, when most everything else has taken a siesta from the hot summer sun.

Elsewhere in the backyard

Late last year I planted a native chokeberry shrub in the birdbath border (see: https://www.mrvintageman.com/late-season-goings-on-in-the-vintage-garden/). The variety was named ‘Lowscape Hedger’, and I had high hopes for it. You will note that I used the past tense “had”, because the damn thing bit the dust this year. Even worse, I have no idea why. Did I water it too much? Not enough? Maybe it caught a disease? I will never know the answer.

R.I.P ‘Lowscape Hedger’ chokeberry

I have had problems trying to grow shrubs in this area. I lost another native plant, a Serviceberry (amelanchier) a few year ago. I know the soil is fine, because bindweed and thistle thrive just fine in this spot.

While both serviceberry and chokeberry are North American natives, they call the eastern half of the continent their home. The part of the continent that gets a lot more rain and snow than the western half.

Taking that into account, I’ve decided to give a western native a try. Perhaps it will find the area I’m going to plant it in a more hospitable than its eastern cousins did. And not just any western native, but a Colorado native. Say hello to ‘Grey Rock’ Ninebark (Physocarpus monogynus), also known as Rocky Mountain Ninebark.

Say hello to my lil’ friend

Ninebarks are native to North America, and the eastern varieties are apparently quite stunning. Rocky Mountain ninebark is found in the mountain states (duh), with a range stretching from Montana to New Mexico, with outcroppings in Arizona, Nevada and South Dakota. What makes ‘Grey Rock’ unique is it was found in the Cache la Poudre Canyon near the city of Fort Collins, which is about an hour drive north of me. It’s gets pinkish/white flowers in spring, the seed heads that turn a bright red in summer, and dramatic orange and red foliage color in the autumn. It’s supposed to be somewhat drought tolerant.

For those that are curious: the reason these shrubs get their name ninebark, is because when the bark of mature branches start to peel, the bark comes off in strips and reveals a different color bark underneath.

Here’s hoping it’s tougher than the its predecessors.

Making the move

A couple of years ago I planted a upright phlox here along the front of the deck. Upright phlox typical bloom in late summer, providing color in the garden when it needs it most. Phlox’s are generally not waterwise, and in more humid areas of the country are prone to a fungal disease called powdery mildew.

The phlox I planted is a variety called ‘Jeana’, and is supposed to be more drought tolerant and disease resistant than the standard varieties. You can see ‘Jeana’ in the picture below.

Having a hard time seeing it? Yeah, that’s the problem. The poor thing should be about two or three feet tall by now. It is really not doing well in its present home at all. I have helpfully added a visual aid to allow you to see it.

According to the instructions that came with the plant, it prefers morning sun with afternoon shade. Which it gets in this location, but I have a strong suspicion that it is not getting enough sun in the morning for it to thrive. Hence its stunted growth.

So I am going to take a gamble and move it into the Long Border. The spot I am going to put it in is that open area surrounded by the irises you see below. The phlox should get more sun in the morning, and I am hoping that the blue spruce (which is to the right and out of frame in this picture) will provide some afternoon shade.

The reason it’s such a gamble to move the phlox this late in the year is that it might not get established before the winter cold comes. I could wait until spring to transplant it, but I fear that since it is struggling so much where it’s currently at, it may not survive until then. Either way, the odds are not good that the plant will make it. Might just as well take a chance and put it somewhere it might thrive.

And in it’s place…

I am going to replace that phlox with this little guy:

This is Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa) ‘Aureola’. Japanese forest grasses are able to tolerate more shade than most grasses, which should be perfect for this little spot in front of the deck.

Forest grasses are not particularly drought tolerant, but that is OK. The spot I’m going to put it in is right next to a container whiskey barrel. We put annuals in the barrel for all season long blooms. I generally water that barrel nearly everyday during the hotter months, so it will be no problem giving the new grass a drink while I am at it.

Just take a look at these cool variegated leaves:

To help this grass thrive, I am going to amend the soil of its new home with a LOT of soil amendments. Two kinds of compost, and a little spagnum moss to help the soil hold on to moisture longer.

Adding a focal point

My last project for the backyard this autumn is planting a Cotinus, also known as smoke bush. If you’ve ever seen one in flower, it not a shrub you easily forget. The sprays of tiny flowers that cover the long upright stems are so prolific it looks like the plant has smoke coming out of it, hence the name.

The shrub comes in both green and purple varieties. The specific variety of smoke bush I have chosen is named ‘Winecraft Black’. Supposedly, ‘Winecraft’ keeps its purple foliage all summer long, and doesn’t turn a muddy brown as the season progresses like other purple varieties do. ‘Winecraft’ is also a dwarf variety, only getting to about 8-10 feet tall. The standard varieties can get up to 20 feet in height. All smoke bushes have good fall color, but ‘Winecraft’ is supposed to turn a dramatic orange color.

This shrub is going in the very back of the corner border. I think the purple foliage will provide a nice backdrop to all the green leaved plants in front of it. The orange fall color should hopefully mingle well with all the different ornamental grasses I’ve planted in this area. It should also provide a nice focal point throughout the growing season, drawing the eye to this area of the garden.

And most importantly of all, I am hoping it will block out my neighbor’s shed and lumber storage rack he has attached to it. That thing is an eyesore, and I’m sick of looking at it.

Planting a smoke bush here to draw attention away from the neighbors shed. Note the dormant lawn in the foreground. I can’t put enough water down to keep the lawn from shutting down in late summer, so I’ve stopped trying. The grass will rebound in the spring.

Next week, the front yard

And that’s it for the backyard projects this fall. Well, I am going to plant spring flowering bulbs back here, but that will wait for a few more weeks.

Coming up, some changes to the front yard. Stay tuned!

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