Submitted by Joan Regan
Loving Fall, always have. The colours are always breathtaking, more so this year… wondering if it is because the air is just a bit cleaner and fresher from the lack of pollution, even up here in our beautiful little hamlet we call home. We were married in October of 1961, also a beautiful crisp Fall day way back then. But Fall means… Winter is coming. Time to put things away and tidy up the gardens.
Always did the “Nancy Neat” thing and cut everything right back, but now, becoming aware of the year I was born, I’m looking for the easy.
So it’s putting the knick knacky things in the shed and dealing with the annuals only. The ones in the ground in the garden will be left right there, and the pots emptied and dealt with. I have a few pots that I leave the soil in for some seasonal decorating and the rest get dumped into a wheelbarrow; plants go in the compost and soil back into the tarp covered soil bin. I throw a couple of shovels of compost and mix it up with this soil and by Spring it has given the soil a whole new life, full of nutrients. The empty pots will get hosed down, and when dry, put away till Spring.
This beautiful morning I took advantage of the sun, got a second cup of coffee and took a stroll through the garden. Sad to see it shutting down, but now I’m full of plans for the 2021 garden – more colour thanks to the loss of two huge trees, and I’m thinking there still is a bit more room for another Hosta???
All that’s left is to take apart three hoses, drain and hang them up, and the garden is winterized. The pots left out to fill with winter greenery are hanging close to the house where we can enjoy them; they will be filled with seasonal pretties (just tucked into the greens, not the soil where they will get frozen in and it’s “see you in the Spring”). The soil in them will be beefed up come Spring with compost.
Now out to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. Happy Fall, Happy Gardening.
Joni
jpregan@amtelecom.net 519 596 2389
