Re: Winterizing
Good morning Donna and all,
First of all, we did not get anything from the hurricane. Lots and lots
and lots of people assume that the whole state was affected, but it was in
reality just the coast and the eastern part of the state...I live in the
piedmont section of NC--I guess you could say it is in the western third of
the state...near the SC border. We did not even get any much-needed rain
from that storm! We had a very dry summer and a dry fall as well. The last
big rain we had was in early October.
We do use a leaf blower all over the corners and beds in the yard before
my husband gets out the John Deere 'leaf vacuum'...the first fall we lived
here we could not believe the amount of leaves that fell! We had a small
mower at the time with a bagger, but just one trip/one direction across the
front yard, and he had to empty the bag. Then we tried raking...have your
tried raking in the dark??? HA! So, we did get a larger capacity mower
with 2 large bags on the back. I do love the old trees here...but the fall
is a killer if you want green grass. I did wonder if the oak leaves would
actually decompose enough during the winter to have any kind of affect on
the soil. I have mulch down, too. I like your idea of leaving things up
for the birds and I think I will do that with some of the plants, but some
are just unsightly and I can't wait to get them down. I had alot of trouble
with my sedum AUTUMN JOY this year...first it did not get enough sun/air due
to a couple of salivias that grew into giants overnight and then fell all
over everything around them. The sedum must have had weakened stems as
well, since as soon as the flower heads formed then fell over, too! So,
even though they are staked they still look ugly now...so I am going to cut
them, but leave some of the other plants.
Someone mentioned hellebores...just wanted to say that I don't remember
if it was this list or another one, but someone earlier in the fall
mentioned putting a water/lime solution on the hellebores. I did it and I
can't believe the difference in these plants...they look VERY healthy...a
brighter green and are putting on new growth. I really appreciated that
tip!
A cool, crisp, and sunny day here in Zone 7b of NC,
Lynn
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