buffalo garden

Garden and the Gear — What I’m Digging- Fall Edition

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I hope everyone is having a great week!

*First things first— I have created a new page on my blog!!! I am so excited that I actually figured out how to do this. I get so intimidated by technology sometimes, I feel I can’t ever figure it out on my own. But, I did! It’s a whole new page entitled “Visit Buffalo, NY” that sets right alongside the “Home” and “About” page. Please take the time to peruse it, and get to know the city I currently call home! 

Aside from that, with such wonderful weather Western New York has been having, it’s hard to believe the coming weekend is said to bring rain and SNOW.

This tree is absolutely beautiful. I have never seen anything like it!

This tree is absolutely beautiful. I have never seen anything like it!

Nooooooo! No matter, it really got me thinking that while I still have a few things to do in the garden, I need to prepare for the weather to come.

Now, if anyone knows me, I love GEAR. I am such an outdoor gear junkie, I will spend next to nothing on work clothes, but make sure I have the best outdoor/active apparel and gear around! Go figure! Since I know I will be messing around outside in the rain doing last-minute gardening, hiking, running, etc., I know I need to check out the latest gear for me and the garden. It just so happens I have a few things on my gear list that I am thinking about investing in for my zone 6a weather.

  1. Rain Boots — When you are stomping around in the mud doing the last of your winter garden prep, you need a good pair of rain boots. I can tell you any rain boot will do, but I do have my eye on these:
    1. Helly Hansen Rain Boots — Love these and they look so practical and comfy — they are, after all, Norwegian, so you know you will be able to get out of them what you pay for them, that’s for sure!
    2. Helly Hansen Lyness Insulated Coat — I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time finding a rain coat that is just right for spring or fall. It’s still cold, but not too cold, so you need some insulation, but not too much… yea I actually saw this at my local sporting goods store and am pretty convinced this coat will be perfect when I have to start prepping my flower beds with burlap in the cold and rain. A little on the pricey side, but definitely something that will take you from the garden to the office.
    3. Hand Forged Weeding Fork from White Flower Farm — you know from my last “What I’m digging” that I was really eyeing up a tulip shaped trowel, and still have that on my Christmas list. Well, this is actually the perfect gear I need to dig up the last of my dwarf sunflower roots that have been giving me troubles while I tug and tug and look foolish because I can’t get the roots out of the ground! Again, this is pricey, so your best bet would be to put this on your Christmas list, but then again, good garden tools are a great investment, you don’t want another bent trowel, do you? 😉
      1. Hand-Forged Weeding Fork
      2. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com
    4. Water Proof Gardening Gloves— at $4 a pair, these gloves come highly rated, and worth it, especially when you will be putting your hands in the mud and they will end up getting cold!
      1. http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Glove-Nitrile-Garden-Gloves/dp/B000MTT11S

So here are a few of my favorite things. I like to share some of things that I come across, or that catches my eye, because like in life, you always need to be prepared, particularly in a rainy fall garden!

Winter and the Garden : A Damaging Tale

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I don’t know anybody who isn’t ready for spring at this point. I love all seasons, but I am getting really worried about winter and what it’s going to do not only to my house (ice dams) but my plants! I fear that being buried under 4 feet of snow is going to result in some major damage. From what I can still see, I have some major Winter Burn, and I already know I have lost quite a few plants. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I have my work cut out for me as soon as the snow melts!

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So, let’s start with the basics so we can get a better understanding of typical damage done to our gardens due to winter, and the approach we should take with each of these perils.

Ice and Breakage:

Depending on what part of the country (or world) you live in, many people are have experience some major icing that has coated the trees and shrubs in your yard. Ice is the most damaging and most dangerous winter peril, in my opinion. So what if you have a tree with broken branches in your yard? Unless it is a major danger to you and your house, DO NOT try to prune it. Pruning a broken branch or shrub with ice on it could cause more damage to the plant than you think. Wait until spring to start cutting it back to stimulate new growth.

Winter Burn:

This has also been referred to as desiccation. Evergreens are the most susceptible to this, including my own Emerald Green Arborvitae, which I have mentioned in my posts before. I had purchased two small arborvitae in the Fall of 2013, and I noticed this fall that the one had turn completely brown, as if it were dead. Winter Burn happens when the plant has not received enough water in the fall to sustain itself through winter. And interestingly enough, your plants don’t stop losing water during the winter, either. You can try to see if it will come back on its own, or you can just remove it during the spring. Even just a regular winter takes a lot out of your plants. I have said this before, I know my biggest weakness with my garden is not watering enough. Another lesson learned! 

Animal Damage:

In the past, I have mentioned my never-ending struggle with my “deer” friends. Deer aren’t the only ones to cause some major damage to your landscape. Rabbits, moles, voles and mice can also do some work on your plants. The only thing you can do with animal damage is just wait let it go and allow for nature to heal itself, and prepare better the following year by covering and fencing in the plants you know animals like to target.

Snow:

As I have depicted many times, most people in the Eastern US are dealing with historic snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.

This is the coldest I have ever seen it in the Buffalo Metro area.

This is the coldest I have ever seen it in the Buffalo Metro area.

With over 4 feet of snow in your yard, you cannot do anything to help your plants. In fact, trying to help them with that much snow will only harm them. Your perennials that go dormant every year should not be harmed at all, even if they are buried in snow. It’s really hard to harm a plant that has established itself in your yard. Don’t worry about what you can’t control–it’s not worth it.

For the most part, there isn’t anything that cannot be fixed in your garden without a little time and patience when spring comes. “Live and Learn” comes in to mind when you are experiencing a particularly brutal winter, as most of us are this year. None of us have even come close to dealing with weather like this before, so the more we learn this year, the more we will be prepared for the next bad winter!

One to Grow On: Lessons Learned in the Garden this Year

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Oh boy, it’s been a busy week! With Halloween and my parents coming to visit, and some Christmas shopping accomplished, I had a full weekend!  The weather was less than desirable, we ended up getting some snow on Saturday! Last weekend was absolutely beautiful, and I was ready to accomplish the second phase of my fall preparation for my garden, but I guess that was not meant to be. I pulled muscles in my lower back yet again, and I was sidelined for the whole weekend. So, in between snowflakes that are forecasted for next weekend, I need to start cleaning up the gardens! I figured while I have some down time allowing my back to rest and heal, I thought this would be the perfect time to reflect on this past growing season and evaluate what I did well with what I did not do so well.

Overview:

This was actually a very hard growing season for Western New York. We came off an unusually cold Winter that included two blizzards that shut down the city of Buffalo. We were in the single digits for most of the Winter; no thaw came at all! And because of this brutal cold, the ground stayed cold right into June. Unfortunately, I lost a few plants due to the Winter, and I had a really hard time growing anything I had planted. In fact, most of my plants didn’t really start “growing” until August and bloomed right into September!

Pros:

– The new bed I had my husband roto-till in early spring was just the right size for my yard and my lifestyle. As the old saying goes, “don’t bite off more than you can chew”. I was a little nervous that I might have gone in over my head,that I wouldn’t be able to maintain it. It actually turned out to be just right.

My brand new flower bed--it has changed so much since this picture!

My brand new flower bed–it has changed so much since this picture!

– I added MANY new plants this year. It was pretty much an addiction. I kept buying plants right up until August when all the spring nursery stock was marked down 50%! Spring nursery stock is just a term used to describe plants, shrubs, trees and flowers available for the new growing season.

– This was the first year I was able to enjoy my garden. After six years of planting, transplanting and expanding, my back yard is finally looking like the beautiful, lush, oasis I wanted it to. I bought a few Adirondack chairs and would sit out in the backyard early in the morning listening to the birds and drinking a cup of coffee, all before my daughter woke up. It was the best feeling in the world.

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Cons:

– I did not water enough. Water, Water, WATER. Even though, I must say that I was a lot better this year with watering all of my new plants, I could have done better. Plants you purchase and put into the ground need a ton of water to establish, or as I like to say, “make themselves at home”. Then, once they are established, you don’t have to water as much.

– I need to mulch a little more than I did. This would have helped out with my water situation! It’s amazing how much of a difference mulch does make for beds, such as the ones I have in the far back of my yard, when you can’t get the hose to reach out that far! I have also been interested in making a compost pile.

– I didn’t fertilize as much as I should. I usually fertilize with the Miracle-Gro liquifeed for maybe the first 4-6 weeks of the season. I probably only did it two times this year. I think this would have aided in earlier blooms in my garden.

All in all, progress was made this year, I am happy with that. I have big plans for next year, so that makes me all the more anxious to get out there and get “growing”!