Mid Atlantic region- winter chores

Let's try this shall we? Briefly state what you find needs to be done late December thru January.

Weed out cold weather weeds like henbit, chickweed- put them in compost since they haven't bloomed

Add to compost- leaves, scraps, soil from last pots to be emptied and put away, weeds

On lawn - keep leaves from laying and making dead spots.

well that's all I have time for right now

Oh My Sally! Not sure I can do briefly. LOL
Well today in this unseasonably warm weather I cut back the Mums and Asters around my lamppost and put a top dressing of wood mulch over a thin coating of leaves. Pulled a few weeds, too. Ric is putting up more greens. Wait a minute I'm shoveling mulch and he is fussing with arrangements........ Yep sounds right to me........
While filling the wheelbarrow I noticed that my shovel handle needs oiled, taking care of gardening tools in definitely a winter chore.
Yvgfjayne mentioned a book with monthly garden chores for the Mid-Atlantic. We have a guy that writes a weekly column in the paper and he does something like that, too.

Yup- I wondered if we might come up with a list of quick what-to do's
Oiling tool handles--I should do that.
Rounding up stray pots all over the place and stacking them in the shed out of the rain and frost.

I might remember to oil some of the metal parts too, or at least clean the mud off. I have a decent old pair of grass shears that got oiled and brought indoors.

Some of us need to be more aware of sub-freezing temps, so hoses, spigots, and watering cans might need protection from the cold or at least emptying. It already went down to 14F here not long ago.

Getting ready for the seed-sowing madness!

I did notice some weeds trying to get a head start today. 63 degrees!

If it ever stops raining and the ground dries, I'd like to treat my Broadleaf evergreens with an Iron foliar spray. After that I need to spray them all with Wilt-pruf to protect against winter blight.

I finished building cages around all of the hydrangeas and stuffed them with leaves. After this past weekend's high winds, I realize that I have to put more stakes in them as anchors.

All of this rain is creating fungus. I had to spray the camellias with fungicide today.

There are still about 30 bags of shredded leaves to be put down on my beds. I'll finish that this week.

My edging is about 75% complete. I'll try digging the rest of the trench this week before the ground freezes.

I've been bringing the products and tools inside as the tasks are finished. Haven't gotten around to any tool cleaning or conditioning.

I need to pick up a load of Tipple to finished lining my path and under my benches and glider. Have to put some landscape fabric down there too.

My potting bench could use a coat or two of some kind of protective sealant, but it never stops raining long enough for it to completely dry out. The list goes on and on......

Holly,

I read in another thread about your stained glass classes and can see how lovely some of your work looks in your garden!! In the house that we moved from, we had some very old stained glass decorative windows put in by the original owner (about 90 years ago) and everytime we did an upgrade someone wanted us to "get rid" of them.

I regret not taking the time to remove them and bring them to our new home. The next best to stained glass is mosaic glass work and I will be looking for some classes in this area.

Your posts are always so informative and interesting.

By the way, I just saw that I should be wishing you a belated birthday!! Lots of joy with your new grandchild. I know how rewarding that can be.

Regards,

Teri

Thanks Teri, Ric and I are both kind of crafty. He had an interest in trying stain glass so I signed us up for a few classes a couple of years ago. We've done a few small projects here and there and I wanted to make something for my SIL for Christmas so we are going up to the shop to work on the new project and pick up a few more tips.
I love old houses they have such personality and the glass work adds to the beauty.

My main gardening goal this winter will not be done outside. I plan on organizing all my seeds that I have collected. I bought a large plastic file box, some zip lock bags and some markers last summer and plan on spending time sorting and organizing.
Then getting into starting some seeds in February.
January, I'll take some time to straighten out my seed starting area in the basement, when it is not in use over the summer it gets to be a catch all area for another family member, I won't mention any names there, ha ha wink wink!
With the new furnace we had installed this fall, the basement seems warmer and more pleasant to work in.

Raspberries will need to be pruned and possibly weeded. Once nicely weeded, I put down a layer of manure (right from the barn, since the plants will be dormant til...March, April? and I won't be eating berries till August or later) and maybe top with a more attractive mulch.

Broken Christmas light set? Some are now made with three wires, one of them being total solid wire. You can salvage a good long piece of green-coated wire from that before tossing. Then use next summer to tie raspberrie s or anything.

Browsing seed catalogs/ websites. (I have ordered ttwice already but that 'should' be all)

Sally: What a great idea for a thread -- except that you are making me sigh over all the things I hadn't thought to do yet.

If I remember, this is a good time to fertilize azaleas.

I'm still moving plants from pots into the yard and planting bulbs, and labeling. I'll be doing that until the ground freezes really hard.

I want to build a cinder block cold frame, which means I need to dig a big hole (wide, not so deep).

I need to empty out one of the sections of the compost bin -- the one with the oldest compost in it -- so I can start putting new leaves there. I have some roses perched in there temporarily that I may already have killed -- I need to get them a safe place to live for the winter.

I have some roses in pots that I just can't decide where to transplant into the yard.

Need to think about what I want to winter sow.

I need to keep pulling out ivy -- great masses of our yard are just ivy. It's easy to pull it up in the winter. I need to be especially careful where the ivy is growing up fences and trying to pull them down.

I want to put in a new bed for native shrubs. It would be in a very shady spot. I need to start digging that out, and choose the plants.

Weeding is needed all over the yard -- that's a big one. I recently became a convert to winter weeding. I used to figure I might as well wait until spring, but it is so much easier and more systematic to weed as each new type of weed makes its entry (we try not to use herbicides).

I didn't plant grass in September as I should have, but I want to put some down now for a dormant seeding.

I need to think how to handle our entry way. It's really ugly. There are two big urns on either side of the front door. They are in the shade, and I know I won't remember to water them -- we almost always use the kitchen door rather than the front door, so I don't notice them. I have left them empty. But I want to figure out something to plant there that won't require supplemental water except is real droughts. Small shrub? This will take some thought.

There are some new beds I want to dig out and "design" (really not quite the right word for what I do -- more like figure out what plants that I like will survive our not-so-favorable conditions -- we have too much shade).

I read that I can spray snow shovels with a silicon spray and the snow will slip off faster! Cool, if it works.

I want to put a heater bird bath somewhere -- need to think that through.

We may take down a few weed trees -- it is easier when the perennials are dormant and the ground frozen. I am torn about a mulberry that makes a mess and adds to my shade problem -- but must be a delight for the birds. My neighbors have some little trees growing up right near our fence, far from their house, and leaning into our yard that are not big now -- I know they didn't plant them -- they are just weed trees. I know I should go ask them if we can take them down for them, but I am worried they'll say no. I am wrestling with sneaking them out at the dead of night and . . . .. I know, I know. . . .

I'd like to set up a potting area. Right now I do a lot in the kitchen which appalls my family, or by the compost area, so I wonder if I'd really use it.

But mostly I need to work inside this winter -- I want to develop a master plan for our house, because there are bits and pieces of work we want to do now but we have postponed because we want to be sure they are consistent with our overall plan for the house (and of course there is that pesky issue of money). A cold snowy day is good for that.

Happy, I still do alot of my potting up on the kitchen table. I was thinking that your large shady urns would hold Caladiums and there should be a co-op for them in Feb/Mar but they would need water.
How big are the neighbors weed trees? I would be tempted to take them down, too. Although it is best not to without asking, don't want to start any neighbor wars.

I know, I know, I feel guilty for even thinking about taking those trees down down. I'm 100% confident they've never noticed them -- they are maybe 10' tall, and next to the chain link fence that divides their property from ours. But some people are weird and say "no" to anything if asked, and I don't know these people well -- but I know my immediate next door neighbors (who also border on these folks) fought with them over trivial issues involving a fence. If I ask and they say no, then I'm stuck. The trees are leaning over our property and i believe I am permitted to cut down everything that is over our property line. I should send my husband to do the negotiations -- he is much more tactful than me. But he also caves much faster than I do!

Thanks for the caladium suggestion, but they definitely require occasional water, and I want something that won't need any supplemental water. Maybe a shade-loving cactus that is hardy here? I don't even really care how attractive it is. Pitiful, aren't I?

Happy, Fake flowers????????? LOL
What about some kind of statue, decoration like stacked glass balls or an artificial topiary
Seriously I can't think of anything that is drought tolerant that likes shade. My sedums tolerated the shade but didn't grow near as nicely as when they were moved into the sun.

quote--Right now I do a lot in the kitchen which appalls my family, --end quote, me too., ...oh, POTTING...

Watch the indoor plants for problems- boy I have just had a spider mite explosion, and some plants that are kind of new to me, like my beloved Plumeria, have problems that I don't recognize right away. I gave a dose of systemic to some but as usual memory and note keeping are lacking. I'm cleaning the leaves manually. Sweet potato cuttings were overrun, so I submerged the whole things in soapy water for awhile. Seems to have helped them very much.

I have so much to finish up with my fall clean up...lol

There has been a chickweed explosion in my back yard.

I didn't think to look for chickweed -- I know Sally mentioned it above. I need to go hunting. If it is anywhere, it will be in my yard. Thanks for the heads up!

If you don't have any you can always have some of mine.

She can come dig some from my yard, Jen -- I'm closer!

Actually, chickweed doesn't bother me much... it's low growing and seems pretty shallow-rooted here, so it's not a real thuggish weed.

take my henbit please
define thuggish LOL---both of these make a pretty good mat while you're lolling inside with your hot cocoa, and leave seeds that last forever, it seems. Chickweed is winding thru my spinach babies and threatening to overtake them.
i try to pull early and just get broken off stems while the base goes Hah! Thanks for the tip pruning, I'll grow twice as fast now!
I don't care much in the lawn but they'll be all over my beds too,- if I could I'd rather have the beds ready to plant without the extra cleanup
Sorry for the rant- guess I've seen too much CW and HB

task--look at bare branches and think pruning- check for rubbing or broken or dead tree branches, suckering

Sally: I love your task lists -- keep 'em coming. I keep forgetting about these things. But you can keep the henbit.

Watch the frost and snow lay over winter for clues to your warm microclimates

Cover the compost in this kind of weather to keep it from waterlogging !

Sally, Are you saying to look for melting areas in the snow?

Yesterday, I went looking for some more rocks to finish edging my big beds. It has been raining so much that I've not been able to get near any water edges. Didn't want to get the truck stuck as most of the creek and river banks have been flooded. I ventured over on foot pulling the wagon and got stuck like quicksand!! Did manage to find some nice ones at a couple of construction sites and some more "falling rocks" by some roadside cliffs.

I filled the washing machine with mud filled clothes and gloves, 5 pairs. Consolation prize was finding some nice Juniper and Cedar branches to cut in the woods.


Reading Happy's chore list compels me to add two more to mine. Working outside in between all of this rain has turned my main work area into slippery mud and killed the grass. The whole section needs to be reseeded. Driving the truck loaded with rocks through the lawn left ruts to be reseeded.

I have 3 Mulberry trees and want to take the one near my walk and patio down. During the summer I hose off the walk and patio 3 times a day and still find purple foot prints in the house and an occasional purple glob on my butt.

A friend called yesterday saying she has a bunch of unbagged leaves for me. If they're not covered in snow this weekend, maybe I can go get them.

Once I get the rest of the leaves onto the beds, I need to clean out and reorganize the firewood piles. Still have yet another 30 or so logs to split from last year. I'll have to wait until the log splitting is done to reseed the grass.

I've been "passively" pulling the winter weeds as I do other garden chores, but I doubt that I'll get them all. Still have two small beds that need clean up from dead perennial foliage.

It's pretty challenging to garden, decorate, work, shop, wrap, bake, clean and socialize at the same time!!!

DSO gave me a new compost bin for Christmas, so I need to get that started. Haven't even looked at a seed catalogue yet.

Task # 27 (or whatever we're up to!) AVOID all seed catalogs until Xmas decorating, shopping, baking, visiting and cleaning are done
My gosh stormyla- you have the energy of ten of me! I am *only * 49, not old enough to complain am I? I plead that with three kids I have other tasks I must focus on. I'd love to spend the day slogging for rocks.
I had to place one order, to get some big plant labels. Nursery type places are crammed with Xmas at the expense of spring supplies.
microclimates-My south facing side of the house- I have a 3 foot bed between house and driveway- It can show a huge difference in how quick the snow melts, versus the rest of the yard, and likewise, on the north where the sun never shines- holds the snow and ice. Because of these observations, I put pansies in the cold spot and they lived almost all summer, and I put Datura in the hot spot over the summer and they were huge- well the two that I didn't kill.

Sally, My 53 yr old energy keeps evaporating. It's just my compulsiveness that keeps me going. I don't have half the energy I used to. I only spent half the day rock slogging, and it was my first foray into the woods in 08.

You are right, I could never keep up with 3 kids. I babysat for 3 toddlers Wed night which is why I only had the energy for half a day in the woods. I'll keep an eye out for melting snow. Thanks!

Stormyla, You sound like me this past summer one job after another. Right now I'm not getting much done, Ric and I have a bug that we just can't seem to shake which seems to just wear us out pretty quickly. I was wondering how much land do you have? I would love to see your garden one of these days.

Sally, I broke Task (rule) #27. Got back from Disney and went through mail, Just had to look at the Bluestone Catalog. Drooling over their new Heuchera and Echinacea offerings. May need to place and early order.

Holly, It's only an acre, but it was let go to run wild for 20 years. I moved here 3yrs ago and a third of it was covered in wild shrubs, vines, thistle, and trash trees in dense thickets. The trees were covered in vines to 80'. Nothing had been pruned or planted in that time.
My big beds are the areas under the trees that had been covered in thickets. It's mostly dry shade with one section being dry windy shade. Previously, I always grown sun loving plants, so this has been an education.

There wasn't one flower here and only a few ugly shrubs. I think the beds will look a lot better next year. They are still in their infancy.

Here's one section of the longest bed. It is 250' x 30'. It connects at the end to another bed that runs along the road. At the corner of the L, the bed is 50' deep. The road side leg is 150' x 25'.

This will give you size perspective.

Looking the other direction to the connecting roadside leg. There is a 35' path through the corner.

Good thread. My husband thought I was crazy to be weeding in December but you all make me feel so "normal"!
Today the snow was coming within the hour but I was out putting things away (my trimmer mower for one which was in an open shed), moving bales of straw further back to keep them dry if the wind came up, and emptying buckets of bark mulch into sink holes around decaying willow tree roots (the tree had to be cut down 3 years ago but we left a 6 ft. stump for ivy to grow up) before they froze,etc.
I think winter weeding really makes sense as long as it is possible before heavy freezing. It keeps the weeds down in the spring. But with all the work to be done outside I cannot resist the catalogs so like Ladygardener I am working on my order with Bluestone! Their discount only lasts until Jan 16, 2009!
Love what you have done with your gardens so far, Stormyla. I especially envy the fact that they are so nice and wide. Each year mine seem to widen themselves as the plants spread lawnward from the stone walls and fences but I am talking only of at most a 6-9 ft. width! I love heucheras and it looks like you have quite a few.

As your suggested lists keep increasing I must groan at your reminders of what I still must do (trim the raspberries being a biggie!) I will be 65 in January and while I love crawling around and working in the garden I too can say I really feel it! But, take heart, all of you. Gardening will actually keep us young (in spirit at least, if not in body!).
Jessica

Thank you, Jessica. There are a lot of Heuchera as they do well here and their 4 seasons of color are great in a shady bed. The size of the beds is actually what was thicket. I took me a year to clear it all and I have to be vigilant against reemergent vines, of several different varieties and wild roses. The first winter I tore my full length down coat to shreds battling them.

My beds are very deep. A good friend visited me in Nov and she got a kick out of how I just walk completely through them stepping over plants. She said it didn't matter if I had tall plants in front as my beds were meant to be explored in 3D. She also exclaimed that the only thing I needed was some shrubs. I asked her if she didn't think that the 150 that I already planted were enough! They are young and small and the square footage is hugh. Wait until they grow up!! She went home with 3 cartons of plants that we divided and things that were not prospering here.

I've stopped in Saylorsburg on the way to the Poconos several times to check out the flea market and have seen the lovely stone walls there. Just yesterday, I commented that people don't build them here anymore. They are so nice and we certainly have lots of rocks here. If you see the walls here now, they are professionally built and just don't have the same appeal. God save us from suburbia. Of course, it could be that they keep widening our roads and the walls have probably fallen victim to the road construction.

Stormyla,

Wow, I really appreciate the amount of work you must have had with your "thicket" and your ongoing battle with the vines. Too bad you had to sacrifice a nice down coat, though!
If you go through Saylorsburg again in the spring or summer be sure to stop at Vogels for fabulous plants at great prices. She is in the parking lot of the Lake House Hotel which you would pass if you head for 33 North. You probably pick up 33 S after visiting the Flea Market but she is very close to the Flea Market. Just go right coming out of the Flea Market and follow signs for 33 North. She opens around Easter and closes the end of June.
Love the idea of your 3D garden! I envy you your many shrubs. I really enjoy them but am limited in my space around the house. Because of deer we had to put a fence around the house. I experiment with plants on the outside of the fence but few shrubs would survive them. I have planted a lot of heuchera in the various gardens inside the fence area.
We have used our field stone from the stone rows the early farmers left behind to build a 2 proper walls enclosing 2 vegetable gardens. Weather is causing damage and it is too costly to repair them properly. Also few masons deal in cut stone as my father-in-law did. But we must find a solution soon or we will lose parts of the walls. I love planting against the stone since it sets the plants off so well. The lupinesin the spring are always magnificent. Each year those gardens get wider and wider! The shrubs that resist the deer so far are the buddleia and caryopteris. Maybe you have some other suggestions!

Jessica, I'm sorry, but having no deer problem, I've never paid attention to those which are resistant. If Buddleias work, have you gotten a Sungold? They are beautiful and quite hardy.

I forgot to mention that some members on the Hosta Forum told me about a Slug treatment to be done before the ground freezes. It's purpose is to kill Slug eggs that hide under mulch and leaves. Mix up a solution of 1 part Amonia to 20 parts water. Pour this around the plant. Repeat again in late winter/early spring before new leaves emerge. Then repeat monthly thereafter until ground freezes. Supposedly greatly reduces the slug population and the need for sluggo. Certainly is much cheaper than the recommended monthly application of Sluggo..

Today I received in the mail a hugh quantity of copper tape for making collars to go around the hosta. I plan to make rings from mini blinds and affix the tape to them. Supposedly the slugs will not cross the copper. I bought it on Ebay for less than a quarter of the price the garden supply catalogues charge. I'll make the rings over the winter & put them outside as soon as the leaves start to emerge. Another chore to be done!

Jessica, thank you for the plant seller tip.

Stormyla, Thanks for the glimpse of your beds they are just beautiful. Wow you have really put in a lot of work and it really shows, your garden will grow more lovely every year. An acre is a good bit to take care of, that is all we really own. The house, veggie garden, barn and corale are all on our acre. What use to be the horse pasture is actually owned by a neighbor that didn't use the land we still mow and do some clean up on that but don't own it. I use to do some clean up on the hedgerow next to our property, too. Back when it was still farmland just to keep the worst of the vines from eating the trees. Since that has been sold and developed I don't do much there anymore. But that would be just what you cleaned up and that is a very big job.

Stormyla,
Thanks for the hint about slug prvention. I ahd never heard of the amonia treatment but I sure will try it starting today. D in TN

Stormyla, I had heard about the ammonia treatment, but not the suggestion to do it monthly so that is a big help. But I thought I recall that it damages blue hostas. Is that only if the foliage is out? I get huge slug damage. I am constantly losing brand new plants to slugs, without even realizing they were in danger.

I have so many hostas -- I wonder how much of the solution should be poured around each plant. I'd have to buy stock in an ammonia plant. Might help prop up the economy.

In my garden calendar is the following which I cut and pasted from somewhere -- unfortunately I didn't credit it:

"The key is doing it before the slug eggs have hatched. The eggs are laid in the ground, usually along the edges of sidewalks, walls, etc. He also said the solution does not harm plants. I agree have found this to be true.

"I use a mixture of 1 part ammonia to 10 parts water. I use a watering can with a small downward pointing spout and pour some along the edges of all sidewalks, retaining walls, the deck, anywhere the ground or lawn meets a hard surface. I do not drench the whole yard nor do I water entire flowerbeds, just the edges. Two watering cans of this mixture does my whole back yard. I especially concentrate on the shady areas of the yard where I used to see slugs or their trails, I do not bother with the sunny front yard as I have never seen evidence of slugs there.

"No, I would not water directly on my hostas. nor do I water the soil around plants with this mixture. In fact the hostas aren't even up yet, when I do the first application, which I did 3 to 4 weeks ago. I did the 2nd application yesterday. That should be it for this season.

"A good friend who has a major slug problem has found that the ammonia application reduces the slugs, but does not eliminate them entirely. Hopefully if she keeps it up for a few years, it will eliminate them.

"I have also heard you can use this mixture in a spray bottle and spray directly on the slugs when you seem them. I have not tried this, because I never see them anymore. No more slug hunting, no more salt, no more beer in saucers. Last year, late in the season I saw one slug on my shady sidewalk. Just one, and no silvery trails or damage to my 16 hostas all season.

"It is one of the best gardening tips I have ever tried and I have been using this method for the past 4 to 5 years, so I highly recommend it. I especially like that there are no metaldehyde-poisoned slugs left laying around for the birds to eat and die from.”

-----
On another note: have you looked at the weather for the next few days? The best gardening time is for the next hour and a half. It is going to rain tomorrow, get cold, and then get really really really cold. And warm up before Christmas so that the precipitation that will fall Christmas Eve won't fall as snow --phooeey.

This message was edited Dec 20, 2008 10:19 AM

Stormyla and Happy, Thanks very much for the info on the slugs. They are an issue at my house, too.

D, Happy & Holly, You are welcome. Really thanks go to ViolaAnn. If any of you frequent the Hosta forum then you know she is quite the Hosta grower. My mere 200 (mostly babies) pale in comparison to her and Sanannie's collections.

Here's the link to the thread. Happy, everywhere that I've read stressed not to pour it on the leaves. There are all kinds of opinions on how much to use. But you can often get gallons or half gallons of it at the dollar store. Sure beats the price of Sluggo.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/925393/

Thanks, Stormy! I hunted down that thread as soon as you mentioned it! Slugs are my nemesis.