Tackle some fall garden chores in your veggie and annual flower gardens now and prep garden containers and leftover soil.
Vegetable and annual flower garden tasks
Soil should always be covered to keep it healthy, so in your veggie and flower garden, embrace the "chop and drop" method.
Any spent vegetable plants, like beans, lettuces and peppers, can be chopped and dropped. And flowering plants that had healthy foliage can get this treatment, too; simply chop them off and let them fall, instead of pulling them out of the soil or cutting and removing them.
The chopped pieces will cover the soil and protect soil microbes while being less work for you.
For beds with any diseased plants, cut and remove the plants and then cover that soil with hay, straw or chopped leaves.
Next, cut and move spent sunflowers, allowing any extra seeds to drop in new areas and self-sow for next year's crop.
Cover garlic and strawberry beds with hay, straw or chopped leaves for winter protection.
Taking care of container plants and other pre-winter chores
Remove container plants from their pots, and — for plants that were healthy and disease-free — simply remove the top 6 inches of potting soil and compost.
Dump the rest of the potting soil into a bucket to be mixed with new potting soil next year to save some money!
Empty clay pots and store them, and drain your garden hoses of any water and store them for the winter.
How to care for an adopted calla lily
Q: I adopted a blooming calla lily. The blooms are spent now. How do I care for it from here on so it will 1) survive and 2) rebloom? - Pat, via email
A: Because calla lilies are not hardy here, you can grow them as a houseplant but they're not suited to overwinter outdoors. If it's been outdoors or in a container, you can store the rhizomes, similar to what you do with a dahlia.
Dig them up and cure them for a week in a warm room, put them in a perforated plastic bag with some moistened peat moss or sawdust in a 50 degree Fahrenheit room with 40% humidity.
With all of those accommodations, you can get your calla lilies to come back next year, then repot them in the spring and let them grow.
Onions suffered from rot
Q: Growing regular yellow onions and this year not good. Dug and let sit for a few weeks inside a garage before trimming the greens and roots. Many of them were soft, pulpy and basically only good for compost. Grew them in composted (our own) raised beds, good soil and that great Addison clay. Suggestions welcome. - Bob, in Addison
A: This could be due to several things: center rot, a fungal disease which get into the plant through the leaves, insect damage or even too much nitrogen in the soil.
This issue could also be caused by warm, humid weather over the growing season.
Next year, try some varieties that are more tolerant of these types of diseases, like the long day varieties, and try again in a raised bed with well-drained soil.
When to prune a cherry tree
Q: Dear Charlie, I hope you can help me with my cherry tree. This summer, the cherries were way at the top of the tree and difficult to reach. Is there a way to prune the tree so it is easier to harvest the fruit? Pruning: When is this done? I really appreciate your time. - Beth, via email
A: Prune your cherry tree in late winter, but note that pruning the tree severely to reduce the height will cause you to lose the cherry crop for next year.
Although, doing so will set up the tree to have a nice crop in the future that you can reach!
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