The Conservational Gardener

By Nanny Fontanella

A garden lullaby

It’s that time of year again. The garden is going to sleep and in order to help perennial borders, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, brambles and other miscellaneous progeny have a good nap, I weed, mulch, separate perennials and replant, dosing everything with a little compost.

There’s so much to do in such a short time; I’m always behind and striving to catch up. Besides the ordinary clean up, there are jobs I didn’t finish during the summer months like replanting bulbs I dug up and separated, cleaning around the roses (always a thorny task), digging up rampant misacanthus (ornamental grass) that threatens my cactus garden, finishing the pond and removing six-foot high burdocks that somehow managed to sneak in and overtake a good part of the orchard.

Oh well, what’s a mother to do?

The sordid details are worsened because the gray, miserable days lately have made me feel like staying inside and playing with the computer or my worms. The worms always cheer me up as they’re such little gluttons. My husband and I have filled the compost bins and are now loading pails with weeds, which I gang up next to the bins, turning them upside down so they don’t fill up with water, freeze and crack.

In the spring (God willing), I’ll turn them right side up and have several shovel-fulls of composted weeds to toss on anything nearby. I don’t bother composting plant debris from the vegetable garden; just pile it up on the pathways between rows and let it rot as it will suppress weeds that spring up during the late fall and early spring.

Bob and I also do remedial pruning; cracked or vertical branches and suckers are removed, downed trees are cut up for next year’s firewood, dead raspberries and roses cut out, strawberry plants are culled so the young ones have room to grow. We also repair rock walls and patch up any holes in the fence. The brick walks that lead to the house need fixing; somebody fell and almost died on a loose brick the other day.

The chimneys need cleaning and pointing as  does the cement block. A couple windows should be replaced that cracked during some storm. Whew, I think I forget to breathe.

You wouldn’t know it, but fall is my favorite time of the year. The air is light and fragrant. There are no bugs and the days are short so the approaching evening reminds me it’s time to go in and do something else. I love to walk in the woods or wander around the garden smelling the earth, as I know there won’t be another whiff till spring.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments send them to asknanny@riverreporter.com.