Some December Gardening
December 16, 2009
We had a truly "soaking" rain last weekend, so in the bright and sunny days that have followed, you can take a look at the exterior of your property. Is is a good idea to check out the timer clock for your automatic watering system. Reset the clock for the length of time that will be necessary for winter watering. Since we have experienced several years of very dry winter weather, we may have forgotten that we can save water by resetting the timer to perhaps an every other or every three day schedule. In the cooler weather, less water evaporates and less water is needed. For all of you fortunate folks who have a week or so of holiday vacation, sprucing up your yard is great exercise and you will reap the benefits next Spring.
December is a great month to prune your shrubs and trees. In today's Internet world, you can get some great pruning information by using a search engine with the key word "pruning".
December is also a time to plant tulips and spring bulbs that you have stored in your refrigerator.
As you walk your garden, make notes on plants that are not thriving and plan your replacements. Garden shops still have bright annuals that will add color. Plants such as calendulas, pansies, petunias, ranunculus and sweet william to name a few.
A light feeding of nitrogen on cool season lawns will also be good insurance for healthy grass.
You can also get some beneficial exercise as you rake up the leaves that the storms have stripped from the deciduous trees. The bright yellow and orange leaves do add color to your lawn, but they do need to be raked up before they turn to a mushy brown goo on your grass.
Of course, you may have to work around all the bright holiday decorations that you have installed, but they will also be more beautiful in your pruned and cleaned up garden.
We had a truly "soaking" rain last weekend, so in the bright and sunny days that have followed, you can take a look at the exterior of your property. Is is a good idea to check out the timer clock for your automatic watering system. Reset the clock for the length of time that will be necessary for winter watering. Since we have experienced several years of very dry winter weather, we may have forgotten that we can save water by resetting the timer to perhaps an every other or every three day schedule. In the cooler weather, less water evaporates and less water is needed. For all of you fortunate folks who have a week or so of holiday vacation, sprucing up your yard is great exercise and you will reap the benefits next Spring.
December is a great month to prune your shrubs and trees. In today's Internet world, you can get some great pruning information by using a search engine with the key word "pruning".
December is also a time to plant tulips and spring bulbs that you have stored in your refrigerator.
As you walk your garden, make notes on plants that are not thriving and plan your replacements. Garden shops still have bright annuals that will add color. Plants such as calendulas, pansies, petunias, ranunculus and sweet william to name a few.
A light feeding of nitrogen on cool season lawns will also be good insurance for healthy grass.
You can also get some beneficial exercise as you rake up the leaves that the storms have stripped from the deciduous trees. The bright yellow and orange leaves do add color to your lawn, but they do need to be raked up before they turn to a mushy brown goo on your grass.
Of course, you may have to work around all the bright holiday decorations that you have installed, but they will also be more beautiful in your pruned and cleaned up garden.
posted by shirley harry at 10:02 AM
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