Mid-November: Yard clean-up

As the yard is slowly attended to, different features of clean-up make the process a slow one. The dahlias and tuberose needed to be lifted, these are both plants that will not survive the winter (although the tuberose did survive last year, it did not bloom). Yes, it takes time and effort but for me both are worth it. The stems are cut and composted, the bulbs have extra soil removed then are packed in newspaper-lined crates or cardboard boxes and covered with peat moss. They are stored in a cool room. They used to be lugged to the basement, then up again in the spring, but now just quietly rest in a room kept at 55 degrees. If the bulb clumps show an indication of willingness to split into two or three clumps, this is a good time to split the clumps. Herbaceous perennials like peonies, iris, gladiolas, hostas and chrysanthemums are cut and leaves and stems removed. The corms, stems and bulbs are unprotected from later freezing soil temperatures. Herbaceous perennials like purple cone flower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), and some sunflowers can be left for a while so birds can eat their seeds, then the flowering stalk removed. Weedy asters and goldenrod are pulled up and you'll see they are already sending underground stems out to grow in new places. They clearly are designed to survive the winter so cutting stems will not prevent growth. Woody perennials like baby mulberry, dogwood, tree of heaven, honeysuckle, maple, oak and sycamore that have been planted by squirrels or seeds blown into your yard, have had a year to grow hidden by other vegetation but now are obvious by their woody stems. Some can be pulled out entirely, some must be cut at soil level. If possible, treat the cut stems with herbicide to prevent regrowth. Some stems are small, but cutting stimulates new growth so you will be cutting again next year (especially mulberry). Be cautious about using herbicide, sometimes, even when I think I have only touched the cut stem with the herbicide, the surrounding plants show evidence of harm. Leaves again! In cleaning out foundation plantings inevitably armloads of leaves will be disturbed. Since these leaves will have all sorts of stems, and weeds mixed in they are not kept for future mulching. Some years there are not enough clean leaves for my future mulching needs and I used to ask neighbors if their bagged leaves could be donated. Then I realized that leaves are now collected by lawn mower moving over lawns that have been treated with chemicals and no longer ask for donations. The lawn mower collected leaves were nice because they were chopped into fine pieces. Next week is Thanksgiving, an appropriate time to give thanks for all the food and beauty our gardens and yards provide. Bring in some of the colorful leaves of fall, add some ornamental gourds or a small pumpkin, anything still with flowers, and you have a seasonal centerpiece. Enjoy the season. Susan Carty is professor emerita at Heidelberg University.