Sunday, October 21, 2012

Fall Cleanup Begins


Here in central CT we were gifted with absolutely perfect fall weather this weekend.  After spending the previous week wallowing in self pity over losing the majority of my garden to an early frost, I built a bridge, got over it and was ready to get down to business and let the fall cleanup begin.  You know what "they" say-"make hay while the sun shines".  Good advice.  Who knows what the weather will be like for the upcoming weekends or what alternative activities may develop to distract me?



My garden helper, the Twerpinator agrees.



Leaf removal is a huge part of fall cleanup here.  Sometimes the weekends don't cooperate and I have to take days off from work to get it done.  A couple of years ago three of my neighbors banded together and removed many old trees but the neighborhood is still well shaded. Fortunately the town collects leaves at the curb and I take full advantage. For some reason though, the first pickup this year isn't until the week of November 12th so for now leaves are on the back burner.

Compost manufacturing has never been a strength.  Usually I toss the majority of fall garden waste in with the curb leaves and let the town do the work.  With the extra time this year I decided to chop up most of my container garden waste, add a few bucket loads of pine needles from the driveway, and toss in the bags of grass clippings and leaves from the final mowing of the rear lawns.  Here's what I've got so far,  With any luck, in my one compost bin I may be able to fit about 1% of my leaves and additional garden waste.





So with leaf pressure off, I decided to focus on cleaning and storing my containers.  Usuallly I clean out the plants after they get frosted (anywhere from late October through mid November) then run around like a nut in December hauling all the pottery to the garage or shed before winter sets in.  Not this year.  At the close of business Sunday night, I had 95% of my pots cleaned out and tucked away in the garage.  In all my years of gardening I have never been so far along with fall pot cleanup.  Not ever!





One of my biggest challenges used to be moving heavy pots around the garden.  A few years ago I modified the strap on an appliance dolly so I could use it to grip pots just long enough to get them tipped back and balanced on the rails.  With the exception of a couple of odd balls, I can now move everything I need to move by myself.


Much to the cat's dismay, carnage corner in the garage is now cleaned up and ready for pot storage.



My new favorite toy.  Argh, argh, argh!


A few odds and ends waiting to be prepared to spend winter somewhere in the house.


My succulent collection all cleaned up and ready to be moved into the house.  I'm still thinking I should send them all to live with Denise.


Semi annual car washing was also on the agenda.  I like a clean car, really I do, but I don't often have one.  Maybe next spring I'll get to the inside.  Or in the spirit of election year job creation maybe I'll just pay somebody else to do it.





By the end of the weekend things were looking up for the garden.  Not so much for me.  Normally I wouldn't classify myself as a klutz but somehow I managed to slice a finger open with pruning shears, twist and bruise my wrist in a closing gate, and take multiple slams to the shins and an ankle from various weapons of garden destruction.  Be careful out there!

As much as I like a tidy garden, I don't relish fall cleanup.  So is gardening in colder zones.  After spending months and months creating and nurturing it all, in just the equivalent of a couple of weeks you tear everything down and throw it away.


No one will be clamoring to enjoy a glass of wine on these chairs for a while.



Where did everything go?


The "rear lawn" mowed for what will probably be the last time this season.


The back lawn freshly mowed for what may be the last time.



Despite the early progress, I still have much to do.  Cannas and dahlias have to be dug, dried and stored.  Plants need to be moved and new acquisitions planted.  Next weekend I'll start cutting back the perennials and moving leaves to the curb.  One thing I won't be doing though is moving pots because I'm DONE, DONE, DONE with that nonsense!  Come December I'll be sipping wine under twinkling lights while toasting that early frost.


East garden-yikes!


Sunday dinner-a reward for all the hard work.



Happy Fall!

Sue~











27 comments:

  1. Congrats on being ahead of the game. Moving containers is no fun, and potentially hazardous to ones health!

    Your comment about spending months nurturing only to then have it all disappear seemingly overnight rings so true to me. What would it be like to garden year round? To never have Mother Nature cut it all back and force us indoors? I can't imagine, but I would like to experience it in my lifetime....

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    1. I'm not sure I would like to garden year round. Maybe fall cleanup does me in, but by Thanksgiving I'm ready for a rest!

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  2. This is my least favorite season in the garden too, everything looks overgrown and untidy, AND the worst part is that my roses keep trying to put on blooms. I feel so sorry for them, I find myself cutting everyone of the blooms and putting them in water in the house. Good job on the pots, that is hard!!!

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    1. Roses in the house aren't such a bad thing. Pot management definitely adds a level of complexity to the garden process-in both spring and fall.

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  3. Wowie Kawzowie!!!! You were the energizer bunny this weekend. How fabulous you've gotten all your pots in. I'm jealous. Mine are still in untidy heaps all over the yard where I left them after decanting the pots. I still have a ton of work to do but we did get all but one pot emptied from the tropical border on Saturday so progress is being made.

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    1. Trust me, I still have weekends of solid work left. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and/or I won't poop out.

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  4. Good for you Sue! I'm so lazy that now I just leave the big pots outside and throw evergreens in them for the winter. Sorry about your injuries; I hope you mend quickly!

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    1. You take a chance leaving glazed pottery and terra cotta outside here through the winter. I've had good luck filling the bottom quarter of the pots with crushed plastic bottles to allow for better drainage and protect against freeze/thaw expansion.

      Fortunately it takes more than a few cuts and bruises to knock me down :).

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  5. My goodness - Amazing progress. Well done!

    I have easily finished emptying my pots- because I usually only have about 10 total! I have only 1 dahlia, and that is now drying in the back room. I've been working for days and days on the leaf problem... mowing them out of the way, composting some, saving heaps of them in far away places etc. What a pain!!!

    Today DH had wood delivered for our family room stove. This is the ONLY sunny day predicted for the entire week and this burns me up to waste it on stacking wood before the deluges begin. So much to do, so little time, and no lamb chops for celebrating the end. :( I'll get there somehow!

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    1. I'm gearing up for some leaf removal this weekend. Since I only have weekends to work in the garden now I have to keep fingers and toes crossed for good weather. And from now til Thanksgiving I only accept invitations for social events that occur after sunset :).

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    2. Luckily for you "after sunset" still leaves plenty of time for socializing these days!!!

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  6. It is fall cleanup time and I am picking away at it a bit more slowly than you. Don't you love a tidy garden? I rake the leaves and more leaves fall. Oh well. Raking is good exercise.

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    1. I do love a tidy garden, Layanee. My goal is to have the garden completely cleaned up in fall to free up time in spring for projects. When it comes to gardening, or any optional activity for that matter, I find there are never enough hours in the day :).

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  7. You are one hard-working woman! I am exhausted just looking at what you have done already.

    (We drive the same car.)

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    1. The alarm was not a welcome sound this morning. Tonight will be an early one.

      My car will be ten years old in a couple of weeks and it just turned 120,000 miles. It's been good to me. When the time comes, I plan to get another one.

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    2. Mine is the baby brother. Not ten until February and with half the miles. It looks as good as when I drove it home.

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  8. I don't envy you your leaf cleanup at all. Here in the country and mind you we live on what's called Buffalo Ridge, the wind takes most of them away. I love to get my garden pretty well cleaned up in the fall. Spring seems like its all wet and soggy or the snow lingers too long. I do have a leaf blower though. They work well for cleaning off the patio and front walk. The Twerp looks like he is supervising the cleanup. I like your fall tablescape.

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    1. Since I got rid of the monster Sycamore in the back, I have been able to spend less time on leaf removal but it still controls my time in the fall. The main reason I bought the blower was for walkways, the patio and driveway but I'll also use it to get them out of shrubs and other hard to rake places.

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  9. What an assload of work you've accomplished! Can you imagine the size your succulents would be when I shipped them back to you? You'd never fit them indoors again. And be so careful -- I snipped a finger with pruning shears once, thinking I was part of the plant. Love that peek at some fall color too.

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  10. An assload sounds like an impressive amount! I wonder what my boss will think when I tell him I did an assload of work?

    This isn't the first time one of my fingers has taken on the pruning shears and lost :). At least I didn't come close to passing out this time.

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  11. You have been an eager beaver for sure! I need to take some inspiration from you and get to work on my own yard! Love your yard, it's beautiful even at clean-up time!

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  12. It sounds like some empty their pots of soil and some do not.....What is the reasoning around both ?

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    1. I have the room to store mine with soil. If you didn't have the room and needed to stack them, they would have to be emptied. Next spring I'll reuse alot of the soil by cleaning out roots and debris, and adding a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote. Usually I have to add a layer of new on top.

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  13. Sue, A few comments in random order..I love the idea of using the dolly to move around heavy containers..wow, you have a clean garage...the blue foot planter is a riot!!

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    1. The dolly has made dealing with the containers so much easier. The foot planter was a score from Naturework's winter sale in February. My friend bought the other foot.

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  14. My gosh have you been busy. Where do you find the time and energy. Please pass some this way. I did not even plant the heavy blue pots of mine this year. I missed them, but now I am glad they stayed indoors.

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  15. If I power through the fall cleanup, I'm home free for a couple of months and spring cleanup is infinitely easier. Gotta keep my eye on the prize.

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