Farewell Flowers

Alas! Tis that time of year again. The time when we bid farewell to the nodding blossoms that have graced our gardens throughout the spring and summer. It’s time to rip out the annuals, chop back the perennials, and wrap up any of our more tender plants.

I liked to consider this a family bonding time. My kids always had two P.D. days, luckily for me, at the end of October. We would spend one day preparing my gardens for winter, and the other day doing something else fun together. Like gardening isn’t fun enough! While I tried, hard, to pass off this gardening ritual as an environmental education day, my kids were quite clear that it was just plain slave labour.

Well, eventually, my slave labour was lost due to driver’s licenses that gave them the freedom to just leave, and eventually they all packed up for college or got married. So, all alone, needing to do the work of four people rather than just one, it was time to work smarter, not harder.

It was time to get out the lawn mower! What a wonderful machine. Not only does it mow our lawns into lovely carpets of green, but it can also mow down a perennial bed in a matter of minutes. No more bending, stooping and chopping for me, no sir! I adjusted my blades to the highest setting possible, sat on my John Deere, and mowed over every garden in sight.

This is, by far, the best and quickest method to put your garden to rest too. Perennials can be cut back to within an inch of the soil, just enough to protect their crown. Mow over all of the plant material, blowing the debris into the grass beside the flowerbed. It may take a couple of passes with your mower. Once all the material is on the grass, mow over it again, three or four times until it is chopped finely, about the size of a loonie. Then, mow over the chopped materials and blow them back into your gardens. The plant waste will break down over the winter and provide nutrition and humus for your soil.

The same is true for all of those leaves blowing about your yard. Leaves are food for your gardens. Instead of raking, mow them into windrows and then mow over them two or three times until they are finely chopped. Again, blow the resulting materials onto your flowerbeds. It’s nature’s way, really, and it will limit the amount of compost and manure you will have to add to your soil next spring.

The only leaves you should not blow back into your garden are those of the oak or walnut tree and foliage from roses. Using these leaves may result in soil or disease problems next year.

So, instead of spending a day or two chopping, stooping and raking, spend a couple of hours with your friend, John Deere. In no time you’ll be sitting on your porch sipping a hot chocolate while you watch your neighbours slugging in their gardens.