Here are the most important chores to do to get your lawn and garden ready for winter
The beginning of November is your last chance to prepare for winter. Put the garden to bed by raking leaves from the lawn and cutting back floppy perennial plants. Store or cover outdoor furniture, move pots, statuary and garden art under cover and out of the rain to prevent cracking and splitting from the freezing and thawing ahead.
Most sedums and succulents in containers can handle cold weather but constantly moist soil from winter rains will rot the roots. An unheated garage or garden shed is a good place to store winter dormant bulbs and roots such as canna, dahlias, glads and other winter tender plants. Move ‘em or lose ‘em when it comes to tender plants.
Q. Last winter some of my expensive clay pots cracked and broke. I have replaced them with shiny blue ceramic pots that my neighbor says I can leave outside all winter. They were rather expensive so I am asking your advice. Can I leave these blue pots outdoors all winter? I live in the Olympia area. — N.G., Lacey
A. The easy answer is yes, pottery with a shiny glaze imported from the Far East are most likely to survive our wet winters outdoors. Be warned that any crack or chip can allow entry for water that would then freeze and could cause cracking. If you don’t want to gamble at all, move the pots out of the rain. Plastic and foam pots are winter safe, but as you have learned, clay or terra cotta pots can crack and split in freezing weather.
Q. Last fall you told us how to make leaf mold by stuffing fallen leaves into plastic garbage bags. I did this. One year later I opened my leaf bags (I kinda forget about them hidden in the back of my garden shed) and the leaves inside still look the same! Huge maple leaves, rhododendron leaves and some salal foliage from pruning have not yet rotted. What did I do wrong? — B.B., Buckley
A. The magic of leaf mold depends on some slime time but it sounds like you bagged some of the most difficult to break down plant leaves. Big leaf maple and rhododendron foliage have a waxy covering that keeps out moisture. The solution is to mow or cut up these leaves first to allow easy entry of the microorganism that will create the slime that breaks down the leaves. You also need to add moisture, air holes to the bags and especially for large leaves, don’t forget to add some soil or compost to activate the decay process.
You can still use those bags you discovered in the shed. Chop the foliage a bit with some shears, add soil, water enough to moisten the leaves and poke air holes into the bags. In the spring you will find slimy leaves with threads of white mold filaments. This leaf mold is the perfect meal to use as a spring tonic for any plant but partly decayed leaves are especially loved as a mulch for rhododendrons and hydrangeas.
Q. We have moved to a new house with a large maple tree. Will it be really bad for the lawn if we don’t rake all the leaves from the grass? — Anonymous, Sumner
A. It is a big sin if you have big maple leaves left on the lawn. Large leaves smothering the grass all winter means a thin lawn in the spring and a weed problem will follow. Go for the gold (as in leaf color), be bold and make some leaf mold. (See above question for instructions.)
Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.