Leonard Moorehead, The Urban Gardener: Frost Bites
Saturday, October 21, 2017
The moon waxes late in October. Cold air spills into urban gardens and our glorious countryside alike. Gardeners cast an eye skywards as the moon and sun exchange roles. We are more night than day. Breath deep gardeners, scent cold air masses. Pure blue northern air spills over our gardens. The dynamic exchange of seasons is our oxygen, frost is its extra tang.
Huge dried grape leaves are thick under the arbor. The neighbors scarlet maple is bold and proud. The cold air’s low humidity favors the crisp. Frost grips a progression of plants with more or less severity. Many fall gardens retreat from northern polar atmospheres in variability. Micro climates such as the sunny sidewalk patches full of browned zinnias ask only to save seeds for next year. Scissor off the faded and dried seed heads into large brown paper bags and hang in a cool dry place. Alongside the zinnias are plenty of lavender blooms ready to be groomed out of the patch. A sharp pair of pruning cutters is a gardener’s ally. Keep your garden on the positive side of net carbon removal or rather snip stems on the spot and contribute the summer growth to the permanent mulch.
The gold finches have just about finished off the coneflower delightfully geometric seed pods. Some were brought in earlier and hung to dry. Cool weather draws the best out of us. Cut back the coneflowers level to the mulch. Lift and divide thick grown clumps into larger spaces, encourage those you prefer with less competition into a trowel’s depth site, mix in bone meal and compost and replant. Exchange extras or various colors of coneflowers either as transplants or seed among friends. There is much pleasure in putting the garden to bed. Other perennials are hardening off from frost. Guide their retreat into dormancy and tuck thick grown or precious few into new homes.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe full moon will signal more frosts to come. Repot chrysanthemums as soon as possible into larger, more commodious containers. Bury the containers into sunniest location in the garden and keep moist. Mound mulch around the open crown and renew into the winter. The angles of sun allow gardeners to gauge proper locations for plants. Bamboo casts a longer shadow year to year where once sun encouraged asters, roses, asparagus, strawberries and turf. They will find a good home in exchange with Hostas. Shady gardeners have long relied upon the hosta family for darker garden places. Lift and divide your choice varieties. Groom away the summer growth and bury under mulch or compost.
Leaves are a most valuable asset to urban gardeners. Beautiful at all times, there are two general approaches to transforming leaves into rich humus and both will work for you. Leaves from common oaks, maples, and other hardwoods are naturally structured to transmit not absorb water. Large brown paper bags on sidewalks are most leave’s fate. Bring them into the garden. Soil borne microbes and earthworms thrive in direct ratio to moisture and leaf surface. Shredded leaves offer more surfaces for quicker access. A 4+ inch mulch of shredded leaves over the garden will last into spring. Whole leaves are larger and much slower to decay. Long ago I found a corner to pile un-shredded leaves. A cycle forms, tear apart bag of leaves, remove litter and form a thick layer. I shovel on top garden soil, peat moss, and whatever thick stems are culled from the garden and repeat. This is an annual process, I dig away last year’s leaves and cover the garden beds with the compost. As the leaf pile swells with new leaves most of the old leaves are moved into the garden. I reserve a tithe to inoculate the whole leaves with microbes. In remarkably short space of time the pile becomes very much alive. Keep covered over the growing season and water occasionally. Burlap bags are often free for taking and make great covers for the leaf pile. Discarded old hay is fine top layer and both are attractive.
Do not regret the frost nor fear it. There is much gardening to enjoy. Protect precious clay pots. Empty all media, bring under shelter, store upside down. Flea markets are fine places to find abandoned pots at bargain prices. With gentle care, clay pots last for years to contain your composted leaves and stunning Mandeville or Moonflower vines.
The moon will rule the skies longer. Happiness is shuffling feet through fallen leaves, our enduring companions into the frosty times.
Leonard Moorehead is a life- long gardener. He practices organic-bio/dynamic gardening techniques in a side lot surrounded by city neighborhoods in Providence, RI. His adventures in composting, wood chips, manure, seaweed, hay and enormous amounts of leaves are minor distractions to the joy of cultivating the soil with flowers, herbs, vegetables, berries, and dwarf fruit tree.
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