Rick

I would love to clean out my reseeding annuals but we still are getting lots of migrating hummingbirds and butterflies that swarm the plants. I won't pull those out until they get hit by frost. The only good thing about the clusters of free annuals is they make great mulch and no weeds grow under them. The other great green mulch we are growing this year is crabgrass - WOW what a crop. It does like hot and dry.

The daylilies won't be cut back until about Nov. 1. I want to be rid of the bug hiding dead foliage for the winter but if I do it too soon, they will just regrow and need it again. They have used enough energy this year just surviving the bizarre, I don't want mass foliage regrowth. Pretty can wait until another year - it isn't this year.

Yesterday was clean the pond day. Not my favorite job but necessary to complete before winter arrives. At least some of my plants were watered with great fish pond stuff - they deserve it after the torture this year.

And my biggest job each week - watering. We are on mandatory water restrictions with the threat of a no watering ban so I spend 3 days a week, watering. It's not sufficient but some is better than none.

Brooke

I really enjoy doing most of my fall cleanup chores. It's my favorite time of the year. I am going to squeeze one more small daylily bed into my back yard, just big enough for a dozen or so plants. (I've promised to take the kids sledding elsewhere, since they've outgrown the little hill in the back yard, and I'm taking the last little flat place at the top for my flowers.) I have to put in a simple railing around the stone terrace, and I've got the usual clean-up/edging stuff to do. I have to cut back the English ivy on the driveway wall (I have to do that twice a year, or it gets all over the place in the bed next to it). I'm going to expand a mulched play area for the kids in deep shade, so we can put in a swing for them next year. And, I'd really like to mulch my long shade bed. I guess that's the biggest chore on my list, beside doing the railing. Still, thinking of these "to dos" doesn't get me down.

Now, thinking about cleaning out our attic this fall (to clean up all the gazillion shingle bits from re-roofing the house, and get rid of excess STUFF) - THAT is a depressing chore to contemplate!

Laurel

I have finally finished planting my seedling bed (they're tiny, but they are in the ground). I put a concrete bench at the far end of the bed under some pine trees. It is very handy. There is a group of butterfly ginger to the left of the seedling bed that has become unruly. But I have decided to wait until next spring to thin them out. They smell like gardenias and I do enjoy the blooms this time of year.

Before I could plant my new seedlings, I had to move the 1 year old seedlings out. I planted them in the bed on the other side of the fence. They're multiplying and seem happy. Last year I looked and looked for some native azaleas (with orange flowers) to plant in this bed. But I couldn't find them. If I don't find them in the next few months, I'm going to put camellias towards the fence in this bed.

My project for the day was to plant these amaryllis seedlings in between the daylilies above. But I was rained out. They have to go in the ground ASAP. because I have about 60 more that are only 3 inches tall that need to go in these pots. BTW, sorry all these pics are blurry. There's a depression out in the Gulf and we are getting lots of wind and rain.

I finished my little bog garden. It is the first bed on the left of the pathway. It is only 3' x 2', but it is over 2' deep. It took me an entire day to dig this out. There are so many tree roots in this area, it was slow going. That little chair at the other end is one of my favorite resting spots.

Here's the pathway from the other end. And that's my new ground orchid in the first bed on the right. Brooke made me buy it (I'm blaming little Miss Snicker Pants for all future orchid purchases).

As you can tell, I have been trying to catch up on my pictures during this stormy weather. I am still way behind, but making progress.

Kathy

Wow, Kathy, you have been a busy beaver lately, haven't you?
Yep, know about that td out in the gulf, too bad it didn't send more rain my way. Only a small shower here yesterday afternoon and we were counting on some good soakers!!
I've still got lots of things to do in my garden too, one being digging, dividing, and lining out clumps of dl's for sale next spring. I also have a couple more new beds to till and get ready for planting. :) Hopefully the weather will remain cool next week, and I can get lots more done.
Happy Fall Ya'll,
Jan

I LOVE the idea of a mini bog garden. I've considered doing the same thing (digging, lining, and amending a small area), so I could try growing Japanese irises. The million dollar question in my yard is, WHERE??

I need to plant for more fall color. My favorite fall plants are asters, but I need some more good foliage accents.

Laurel

So how do you all cope with the weeding? I really let things go this year, and finally had to realize I have to stop making new beds when I can't keep up with weeding the old ones. I did try something that was suggested on the GW and put newspapers under mulch with a new bed, and it made such a big difference. Next year, every time I weed a bed, I'm going to do the same thing.

Chris, this is the way I deal with weeds. :) When I till up a new bed I take special care to remove all grass roots, by raking and reraking the tilled soil several times. Then once the plants are in, I mulch heavily and add mulch yearly as needed. I have very few weeds this way. Early spring is the worse time in my garden for weeds, and once I clear them out of the beds, I don't have much of a problem the rest of the season. I learned very early on, that the key is to remove all the grass and weed roots at the beginning. :)
Jan

Chris, don't be fooled by my pics. I have plenty of weeds - I just don't photograph them. I have found one thing that helps me with weeding. I use a low plastic step stool to sit on when I have a large area to do. I can't squat repeatedly or for any length of time...my knees ache too much. So the stool is a big help...and it keeps me from sitting on an ant bed!
:-)

Jan, we got about 2 inches of rain from this storm. We sure needed it, but I think it's over. We're about 20 inches behind normal. Did you get any?
Kathy

We are in extreme drought here. Supervisors announced Monday that the mandatory restrictions will increase and only hand watering (outside)will be allowed. At least we can do that. No rain in the forecast, it appears. I've not been good about watering, but between now and Sunday, I'd better enjoy using the hose while I can. Hard to think beyond that. Can't make up my mind whether it is better to get these potted daylilies into the ground ASAP or keep them in the pots (for easier watering)...decisions.

I have moved some daylilies around. Still have a few to move out. And, still need to figure out where some are going to be planted. Did take out a broom shrub and replanted that area with daylilies.

Everything pretty much needs fresh mulch. In one bed that is just daylilies, I did use newspaper between and it helped. However, wherever I didn't put it, those weeds emerged big time! Unfortunately, most areas are not just daylilies and it makes it a bit more challenging....weed barrier wise. Plus, I like some reseeding things (just not weeds).

So, general fall chores of weeding, fertilizing, mulching and planting new daylilies remain. Maybe I will actually do them this year...lol!

I do want some stairs in my backyard but it is difficult to access (one entry...heavily planted)...it would be so nice next year to have them, the steps.

Enjoy seeing all of your projects, it does give me a push.

Brooke, I would love to know a bit more about the foliage being cut back Nov 1. I have not done this before, but I am thinking of it for the reasons you say...i.e., bugs. Do you wait until after the temps drop or do you cut it green? How low do you cut it? Thanks.

One year we cut them back in mid-Sept. during another drought, to take advantage of the tail end of a hurricane so the clumps would get moisture in the middle. By doing it that early, we had to recut again in Nov. The foliage looked like spring by Nov.

Spring clean up is also easier for me if I don't have to remove the foliage. In the spring, I am too busy removing weeds to deal with it:)!

Freeze/thaw is the problem we have in winter and the dead foliage insures that moisture will be trapped in the crowns of the plant and we lose more daylilies to too much moisture in the winter, than from actual low temps.

Sorry about your drought - I am willing to share my drought with anyone getting too much rain. Guess what - time to go switch hoses around since today is my day to water. Still mandatory here but I don't think they are going to shut it off all together (she said hopefully).

Brooke

This is the same bed as in my firt post, but now I have all the shrubs in and mulched. I'm still not finished with it however. There will be a small terrace on the back right corner with a garden bench.

This is of the "once shady" area, now planted with dl's.

This is a view of the top area of the same bed.

Jan

I'm still puttering around in the yard, too. It's been unseasonably warm up here, and drier than usual, but we're expecting some cooler weather and rain soon. I'm hoping to put in a new railing for the patio terrace in the back yard - it's had a "temporary" mesh fence for a year and a half now, and I'm determined to finish that area off properly. That's this weekend's project, at least to start it by setting the posts in concrete.

Laurel

Rick

Rick

Laurel

Brooke

Rick