Sept 22 2023

Welcome Fall! An Apple for the teacher. My daughter, also a teacher brought me some gorgeous apples yesterday – Honeycrisps from her garden a few blocks away! So as a follow up to my piece about Haralson and Harcourt, Honeycrisp is another apple to add to the list of those that we know do well here. They are, as most know, beautiful apples and if, forty years ago they were developed and available, we definitely would have planted one.

We have had frost now but the Cosmos keeps blooming, better now than all summer. The remaining tomatoes are picked and ripening themselves on newspaper on the dining room table. The last of the zucchini is awaiting treatment and I have one farmer’s market peach left for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Nothing beats these cool crisp mornings and warm afternoons but I hear much needed rain is on the way. The grass has greened up and we tend to forget about watering. However this anticipated rain will likely not be enough to deep water our trees and shrubs for winter. This is one really important job before hard frosts set in. When the ground is hard after long periods of drought, water can easily run off and go into our storm sewers. Most gardeners have loamy soil through years of cultivation but even so, it takes a lot of precipitation to truly saturate the soil. Trees, shrubs and deep rooted plants require moisture deep down to protect and help nourish their roots through winter. For newly planted trees and shrubs, this is doubly important. With very limited water days in much of B.C. it is so important to make use of that limited time and water those deep roots!

The reason many trees have died over winter in the last few years is because they went into winter too dry.

Another area often neglected once fall arrives is under building overhangs. In the winter you will notice these areas a dry and devoid of snow. These areas, if planted need to be watered throughout the year. I try to get around that by shovelling snow into those areas.

A friend asked for pots today as she is dividing perennials and this is a great time to do that job. If temporarily potted until spring, they need to be sunk into the ground for protection. When above ground the constant freeze-thaw action breaks the cells of the plants and damages or kills them. The plants could also be well mulched with straw or sawdust as an alternative. Don’t cover with plastic or they will not receive the moisture they need through winter.

There are many jobs out there at this time of year. Enjoy your weekend gardening, harvesting and taking in the array of changing colours around us. .