Leonard Moorehead, the Urban Gardener: Winter Solstice
Sunday, December 20, 2015
We once feared darkness would prevail. Our cities are bright with light, we do not curse the darkness. No one is immune to the profound effects of our orbit around the sun. Every fiber within feels the tide. Night will surrender soon, we’ve tasted darkness and celebrate. From cave to shining office towers gardeners in four season climates rejoice. Snow, sleet and frozen ice will come on longer days. A walk around the garden now is key to understanding the future. Let’s consider sunlight’s importance for the future garden.
Trees gain height, shrubs become fuller, the roses are tangled and twisted. Grape vines are cobwebbed around the arbors. Any garden space which has sunlight now is perfect for sun loving plants. These are the locations for tomatoes, roses, lavender, and fruit trees. Heavily mulched soils rarely experience frost in the sunny garden. Earthworms and microbes feast upon organic materials under the mulch blanket. They convert shredded leaves, spoiled hay, and wood chips into humus beneath the passive cover.
Walk into the shaded areas. Many plants are adapted to various degrees of sunlight. Fortunately we have a vast lexicon of plants to cultivate. Hostas survive with only a glimpse of sunshine. If yours have yellowed leaves and blotched appearance its simply too much sun! Move them under trees or to the north side of the yard where just about nothing besides English ivy will grow. If you’re inclined to actually sit in a garden, shady spots are right for benches or seats. Observe the contrast between light and dark. Harmony within the garden is the seamless movement between both.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGardeners rarely need an invitation to stroll through the garden. Rake away leaves from green turf. Windblown leaves and litter gather in predictable corners or niches. I rake anything on grass onto the planting beds or place under shrubbery. Matts of wet leaves will smother turf during the winter. A regular seeding each spring and fall generally keeps full blown bare patches at bay. Help the grass remain thick and keep those leaves from building up. I have a small patch of bamboo which has a bottomless appetite for leaves dumped under their thick foliage. Several light rakings are preferable.
Keep an eye open for mature crabgrass lurking in overgrown pots or in the turf. Remove the entire plant onto a canvas or into a bag. Do not compost. A pit in the garden is very useful. Dig a deep albeit small pit down to subsoils, mostly stones, sand and gravel in my region. Locate away from foot traffic and mark. Lay aside the excavated top soil upon burlap or old brown paper leaf bags. Dispose crabgrass into the lowest depths and beneath any future possible cultivation. Add to the crabgrass full of seeds tough stems or woody pruned branches, thorny rose clippings or noisome poison ivy. Top off occasionally with the piled soil in reverse, best soil deepest, least humus enriched last. A crown is no worry, the intrusive crabgrass seeds will not germinate in the bottom and wood is the slowest of organic materials to transform into humus. Move pits around the garden from year to year. Each becomes a small aquafer of nutrition for fruit tree roots and also remain moist during dry seasons.
Ancient subsoils brought up to the surface have captured soluble nutrients. Raised up to the surface, subsoil can be brought into tilth. Sand found under my garden plots is stored in 5 gallon buckets under cover. Sand provides good traction for ordinary passages like sidewalks or driveways. Swept up in the spring, the sand is usually spread over the lavender for the quick drainage so desirable for our favorite scented herb.
Sharp pruners in the back pocket are habitual companions. Prune back roses to the 3 stem junctures. A thick pair of gloves will make this thorny task more enjoyable. Remove deadwood. Consider moving any roses in deep shade into sunnier locations. Other plants, such as lilacs and forsythia may not bloom as well as in the past. Perhaps a neighbor’s tree has grown taller or a privacy hedge of bamboo has taken its toll upon sunlight. Find a sunnier location, prepare a hole in the frost free soil, pulling back mulch but also incorporating some into the soil. Shrubs, trees, and most perennials may be safely moved around the garden before frost and snow arrive. Re-plant at the same depth as found, firm the soil around the transplant, tuck mulch over disturbed soil. Stake saplings while they establish larger anchoring root systems.
Cold frames are gardener’s friends. Kale, beets, cabbages and Swiss chard remain in good condition. Extend their harvest with a cloche or caps. Re-purposed windows enjoy a second life as temporary mini greenhouses suited to virtually any space. Leeks remain robust in cold frames. Rosemary buried pot and all but the foliage and mulched survives winters in my Zone 6 garden cold frame.
Celebrate the Earth’s nadir from the sun. Our gardens are year- long Eden. We once feared darkness would never end. No longer. Prune out long grapevines or kiwis. Weave them into wreaths on the spot and hang them at entrances and doorways. Wreaths are navels, they celebrate life’s constant joyous renewal as is our eternal orbit. The darkness will end and light will return.
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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