Ready Your Garden for Fall

from 2022 Fall Home Improvement

Air Exchangers

14 • September 23, 2022 | Fall Home Guide Special Edition FALLGardenBY SARAH COLBURN STAFF WRITER MAINTENANCE

As fall leaves begin to tumble across the fl owers of summer, it’s time to prep those garden beds for the inevitable winter months ahead.

Now is just kind of the time to start planning for next year and what went well this year,” said Quincy Sadowski, educator with University of Minnesota Extension.

True gardeners, she said, can begin a lot of journaling on what fl owers and vegetables thrived and which ones, perhaps, need a diff erent spot in the garden.

“Now is the time to do your soil testing, do it every three to fi ve years,” she said.

She doesn’t recommend amending the soil until spring because applications tend to run off or evaporate during the winter. But, getting the right balance of PH in the soil can mean the diff erence between plants struggling and plants that provide beautiful blooms throughout the season. Just as important, is the amount of sunlight the plant receives and the amount of moisture. “Each plant has its own happy home area, when you are purchasing or obtaining those plants you kind of have to do some research,” Sadowski said. Gardeners can move and divide plants up until mid to late September, but giving them more time to establish roots is critical to them surviving the winter, she said. Many gardeners, she said, choose to map out where plants are in the fall, taking photos of fl ower gardens and note needed changes for the spring.

Tips before the snow falls:

• There are two options for bed prep for winter. Either cut back plants in November as they go dormant, or leave them because they give native pollinators and insects a place to live over winter. March and April are also months where perennials can be cut back. If leaving plants for pollinators they can be cut back after things have warmed and the insects emerge.

• If your garden bed is struggling with diseases be sure to completely remove all debris from the diseased plant and cut it back completely for a fresh start in the spring. Don’t compost diseased debris because the spores can continue to grow in the compost.

• To decrease weeds and pests for next season be sure to pull up all the weeds and annuals, and perennials that aren’t staying and compost them. Choose a sunny day to help prevent soil compaction and the spread of soil borne diseases.

• Mulch the beds between May and June or between October and November. Mulch helps with weed suppression and prevents erosion.

• Plant spring bulbs the second week of September through mid-November before the ground freezes. Tulips, daff odils, Crocus and Hyacinth, among others, can all be planted in the fall. Be sure to avoid planting in areas of low grading. Bulbs can be protected from deer and squirrels by laying chicken wire over the top until they begin to root in the spring.

GARDENMAINTENANCE from page 14

• Sometimes, if a plant area gets too crowded and overgrown, that plant won’t put energy into blooming, some need to be dead-headed to provide more blooms and some need to be divided to give them more breathing room. Plants have diff erent timelines for dividing them. This guide can help: https://extension.umn.edu/planting-andgrowing-guides/dividing-perennials.

• A fi nal lawn mowing can happen in late October when the growth of the lawn slows and becomes dormant. The extension recommends mowing the lawn to two inches to prevent snow mold in the spring.

• Fall is a great time to clean garden tools and containers. Because a lot of diseases are soil borne, it’s important to start the season right next year. Clean tools with 70 percent rubbing alcohol and keep them in a dry spot to prevent rusting.

• Pull out lawn ornaments and tomato cages and labels or stakes for vegetables and plants and clean those with rubbing alcohol as well.

• Once everything is pulled up in a veggie garden, remove any lingering plant debris and/or stones and rake the surface, cover in a layer of shredded leaves.

• Keep a garden journal and make note of which varieties of vegetables did well, what you enjoyed cooking with and which varieties struggled with pest management.

• Keep a fl ower garden journal and map out your perennials in case they need splitting in the spring. Take photos in the fall so you can identify the location of things before they pop through the soil.

• The University of Minnesota Extension has soil testing kits available for pick up in its offi ces. Typically, in the fall, it takes two to three weeks to get back results.

• Be sure to protect young trees and shrubs before the hard frost of winter. Wrapping the base of a tree in commercial tree wrap to the fi rst couple branches can prevent sun scald, where the bark can heat up and the freeze, causing splitting. Find more information here: https://extension. umn.edu/planting-andgrowing-guides/protecting-trees-and-shrubswinter#sunscald-1263860.

Crowded and overgrown tomato plants do not produce well. Give them more breathing room and they will produce a higher yield with better quality tomatoes.

Buying all metals!

As fall harvest quickly approaches, these pumpkins await picking.

• Sensitive plants and shrubs and plants or evergreens close to the street that may be exposed to winter salts, can be wrapped in burlap sacks to preserve them.

We Handle Garbage

Electronics Televisions!

FOR ALL THINGS CLEAN UP 7 320-845-2747

Potato, pepper and jalapeño plants sit at the edge of this garden ready to be composted. Once composting is done, tools such as the shovel pictured will be cleaned with rubbing alcohol in preparation for next year’s planting season.

Closings, Title Insurance, Abstracting & more!

WITH OFFICES IN:

St. Joseph

710 County Road 75 E, St. Joseph, MN 56374 Offi ce: 320-271-1111

Alexandria

503 North Nokomis St. Alexandria, MN 56308 Offi ce: 320-763-5288

Sauk Centre

864 South Main Street #3 Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Offi ce: 320-352-5925

Fax: 320-271-1114 • www.httitle.com • orders@HTtitle.com

Protecting Your Protecting Your Property Rights Property Rights

• Mary Klimek • Sara Bye • Tim Nelson • Brenda Sand

Yearly Furnace Maintenance Reminder: Call and schedule today!

Jason Kampsen, Owner

320-248-6655 (Cell) Residential • Commercial

Serving Sauk Centre and surrounding areas

Hayfield Window Replacements

Windows that look like they were meant to be there.

320-285-8085

“In business since 1983” Building Supplies

Grey Eagle, MN • (320) 285-8085

In Business Since 1996 In Business Since 1996 Moritz Septic Service Moritz Septic Service

“Where the Royal Flush is better than a Full House” “Where the Royal Flush is better than a Full House” Septic Pumping Service s

YOUR APPLIANCE HEADQUARTERS!

See what’s new at the Amps, Inc. See what’s new at the Amps Inc Inventory is always changing and new!

Large selection of new & used standby & portable generators andby&portable generators

ELECTRIC, MOTOR & GENERATOR REPAIR CTRIC, MOTOR & GENERATOR REPAIR

Whether you’re building your dream home or are updating your current home,we are your one stop for all your appliance needs. Top brands, top quality and top service!

Fingerprint resistant stainless steel appliances!

We stand behind our sales & services 105 County Road 10, Albany, MN 320-845-4690 | www.ampsrs.com

Carpet NOW OFFERING: NOW GREAT JOB DONE

Repairs RIGHT!

Carpet

Restretching Odor Control - Commercial & Residential - Carpets

Give us a call today! - Water Damage Restoration

Locally Owned & Happily Operated by Kerry & Lynnae Austin Cell 320-266-0818 • Home 320-351-6489

It’s a nearly-scientific fact that you can solve most any problem by putting dirt on it. Scraped knee? Dirt. Embarrassing bald spot? Dirt. Nagging mother-in-law? Dirt. Lots of it. Juuust kidding. The point is, when people need a little more excitement in life, they probably just need to add a little dirt. And that’s where KIOTI tractors come in. Intuitively designed to dominate the dirt, these machines make it an easy decision for anyone also inclined to favor the filthy.

WE DIG DIRT

DK10SE Model shown