Gardening with Gail
—by Gail McIlroy
We have had an excellent summer in this part of Ontario. In June we experienced warmer temperatures than normal and added precipitation, which lasted well into July. August temps returned back to normal. I mention all of this because we all noticed our gardens bursting with growth. It was hard to keep up with all the deadheading and watering.
The question now is what to do with everything as we move into cooler nights and slightly shorter days. Here is a bit of a list for you:
- Divide perennials
- Add some fall colours
- Repot house plants
- Continue heavy duty weeding
- Plant the divided perennials
- Water the shrubs extensively
- Harvest your herbs
Listed below are plants that can be planted at this time of the year:
- Beets
- Carrots
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Swiss Chard
- Turnips
It’s important to realize root vegetables don’t transplant very well, so it’s important to start seeds directly into the soil outside. Planting at this time of the year will give us some extra vegetables for the winter, in fact planting in late summer gives us a great fall harvest.
Bees are still collecting nectar frantically. It’s interesting to note honeybees don’t hibernate, they stay awake all winter inside their hives, huddled together in a ball formation eating honey and shivering their flight muscles to generate heat in order to survive. Other creatures do go dormant, often curled in under certain grasses and perennial plants.
This is also time to start thinking about what you’re going to do with all the tools associated with gardening.
The best advice to share is organize your tools. Sharpen and clean with hot water and bleach10 to 1 ratio; along with sandpaper, steel wool and a filing edge. Mineral oil works really well for the final cleanup. Cleaning is important in order to get rid of not only the dirt, but any rust that might have accumulated. I also use a dollar store sanding block. Another reason to look after these tools is they will make sharper cuts, which leads to less chance of you injuring yourself, which prevents diseases on our perennial plants. Even more important is the tools will last longer and therefore you are helping by not adding to the landfills.
This is the time of year to collect seeds from your plants. It’s important to collect these on a dry day as soon as the seed heads dry. Either collect the seeds singularly or get a hold of the stalk. Place these on dry sheets of paper towels on a windowsill where the sun hits. If you have an airing cupboard then you’re ahead of the game. Seeding and keeping pods isn’t for everyone; however, it’s a great way to feel gratitude during the shorter days in winter. It can be tedious so really, it’s only for the diehards of gardening. If you’re lucky enough to be south facing, the window method works. I will comment on winter sowing in our winter issue.
In the meantime, enjoy this last month of summer and the beautiful first month of the fall, in our gorgeous area.