How to add beauty to the fall garden with mums, asters, pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, pumpkins, gourds, field corn and millet and straw. The benefit of all these is that they hold up as the temperatures get colder and colder - all the way into the 20's degree F. Come enjoy them this Saturday at the Howl-O-Ween parade where people can enter their pets in costume to win prizes, starting at 12:30PM.
Protect your fall garden decorations with repellents that keep rabbits, deer and squirrels from ruining them. Jennifer's favorites are: #1 - Deer and Rabbit Solution - cinnamon oil based, so it smells GOOD to humans, #2 - Liquid Fence - the tried and true, best selling repellent, smells bad to everyone, but disappears for humans after 30 minutes, #3 - Repels All - adds castor oil to it's formula, so very effective.
Winterize the garden after 3 nights of hard freezes. The plants will be dormant, so it is time to mulch perennials, roses and recently planted trees and shrubs. Use organic mulches like shredded bark or shredded leaves, 4" deep over the root zone. Special care is needed for hybrid tea roses - using rose collars, covering the crown of the plant with 8" of topsoil, stripping the dead leaves off the stems and spraying the stems with an anti-dessicant like Wilt-Pruf. Come to Chalet's Education Center this Friday or Saturday 10AM to 11:30AM to hear the entire lecture on "Winterizing the Garden", given by Tony Fulmer, horticulturist and Chalet Retail Manager.
Plant bulbs now. The soil temperature is perfect to stimulate the production of new roots. The depth rule is 4 times the diameter of the bulb - the bottom of the bulb should be that deep. Avoid planting bulbs in a row like soldiers standing guard, better to plant "bouquets". Dig a hole 8" deep and 10" wide. Put 10 tulip or dafffodil bulbs in the bottom of the hole and cover with 4" of soil, plant 10 more minor bulbs like grape hyacinth around the edge of the hole and fill the rest of the soil. Apply fertilizer over the top of the planting area. Water once a week until the ground freezes solidly (usually mid December). Protect tulips with repellents.
How to add beauty to the fall garden with mums, asters, pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, pumpkins, gourds, field corn and millet and straw. The benefit of all these is that they hold up as the temperatures get colder and colder - all the way into the 20's degree F. Come enjoy them this Saturday at the Howl-O-Ween parade where people can enter their pets in costume to win prizes, starting at 12:30PM.
For more information visit chaletnursery.com.
Chalet Nursery
3132 Lake Ave
Wilmette, IL 60091
(847) 256-0561
