RE: garden fall clean up
- To:
- Subject: RE: garden fall clean up
- From: M* D*
- Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 10:56:40 -0700
- Importance: Normal
Marge & All,
I'm with you - I don't do fall cleanup either except to remove leaves that
are so deep & wet they might rot the crown of the plant. I agree that the
dried remains offer a degree of cold protection (and winter interest) and in
the case of a wet climate such as where I live, I think the dried material
helps to prevent damage by shedding too much water away from the crown. I
have not dug my Cannas for several years, but I plant them at least 6" deep.
I have never dug my Dahlias, but they are also planted extra deep. Once in
a decade or so we will get an "Arctic Express" with temps in the teens for a
week or so, otherwise the soil doesn't freeze as deep as the tubers are
planted. We usually have plenty of notice when one of these cold spells is
coming and I spend the time heaping extra compost over everything for added
protection. However, in the winter of 89-90 there was a severe prolonged
cold spell that sank all the way into northern California. You could hear
the gardeners wailing over their losses from British Columbia to San
Francisco. :(
Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon
Never do fall clean up....waste of time as have to go around in
spring and clean up winter's mess, so do it all at the same time.
Also have this theory that the dead foliage on perennials helps
protect the crowns from frost, plus a lot of plants maintain very
interesting form for quite some time, even after they are dead.
Think in very wet climates it might be well to remove dead foliage
from plants who are subject to diseases like powdery mildew and
Botrytis. I never cut down plants still in full growth.
If something gets on my nerves, will yank it and I remove fallen
leaves threatening to smother overwintering green leaf rosettes, but
that is it. Spend most of fall gardening time hysterically cleaning
up and moving in non-hardy stuff in pots plus gazillions of pots of
seedlings and other things that require frost protection and clearing
up leaves - never ending task - off drive, paths, patios and decks
and what passes for grass - leave them on all beds and borders until
spring when I remove the excess and leave the rest for mulch. I do
cut off peony foliage and dispose of it to reduce Botrytis attacks.
I wait until frost has blackened Canna foliage before cutting and
digging.
You can tell I am not a tidy minded gardener:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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