Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Garden chores left undone? Snow and cold alter plans
So my area had 8.5 inches of snow last week.
I was caught with my tools out! And with the wagon out and with several more garden chores to do! I know I wasn’t the only one. Many of you have asked what will happen to your yard, is it doomed because we didn’t get to those fallen leaves or cut off the hosta foliage or properly prepare our vegetable garden. In a word, nothing… at least for now.
What it DOES mean is that, if you can’t get out there to clean up lilac blighted leaves and debris or stow those ceramic pots, you’ll want to get to them as early as possible in the Spring. For now, I’m hoping to get at them this coming weekend! It’s supposed to be 50 on Saturday… Halloween!
As for those leaves, they can bring mold if they’re thick on the ground. We may still be in for some drier non-snow-covered landscapes, if so, get out there and rake those leaves out.
There are so many more leaves under the snow that’s melted and crunch! The hackberry loses it’s leaves late, the robins really enjoy those berries!
What you don’t want, if you can, is to leave those thick piles in your lawn. If there’s no choice, don’t fret, come next Spring you’ll need to gently rake them out.
There were some folks also concerned about trying to plant their holiday containers. It’s certainly a lot easier to do that when the soil hasn’t frozen but no one wants to design containers in a snowstorm!
So… let’s be patient and see what nature does over the next couple of weeks. IF that soil freezes, you can carefully use a drill to create the holes you need to place your spruces tops or other elements such as birch logs.
In the meantime, remember, Spring WILL come, and that means you can start dreaming about those plants you want to try, those shrubs or perennials you want to move or divide or the new garden you want to build.
