Fall gardening

Gardening in September is considerably different than summer or spring. It’s house cleaning time – divide, move, rearrange, and clean. I can’t say it’s near as much fun, but I keep thinking about what I do this month I won’t have to do in April.

We’ve seen a lot more Monarchs than the past three or four years. It has been fun watching them, but I usually only have my phone with me, and the photos are nothing to shout about. I have a MG friend who has been watching and using a good camera, so here are two nice shots from her garden.

I pulled out our veggie garden since we’re headed out of town. When I grabbed one batch of carrots, I saw this fluffy yellow thing on the greens.

I wouldn’t have had any idea what it could possibly be, but I’d just read a post from the Laidback Gardener so I’m thinking it is a kind of gall.

Or, Eliza Waters commented that it may be a spiders’ nest. When I looked it up, I’m thinking she is probably right.

Some people wonder why we read blogs. This is why – we learn from each other. 🙂

What did I learn at the Great Bay and Pruning workshops? The number one issue with the Great Bay is the number of people using fertilizer close to the water, and the fact that the water swishes back and for and takes 18 days to actually refresh.

The pruning take away was that you get to choose whether to prune according to the natural shape of the plant/shrub/tree or the shape you prefer for the space it occupies in your garden. When you do prune, always pick the right time of year or you’ll get a flush of new growth right as you go into winter.

I’m working on a new MG project, and we need plants. We can, of course, buy them, but I thought why not ask one of the MGs who has an acre garden with a vast assortment. Yes, I could dig, so with shovel and buckets, I dug. I soaked them overnight in water and fish emulsion, divided them the next morning, and potted them up. We now have an assortment of 47 plants for installation on October 1. Sharing is a good thing.

We’re headed to the northwest this week so I’ll try and check in with everyone, but I’ll be using a new iPad which I’m finding challenging. If you have any suggestions on how to adjust to an iPad, feel free to let me know. I’ve used tablets for years, but never used anything as a substitute for my laptop. After installing five email accounts and finding two had merged, I really needed a cold one. 🙂

Have a great week. 🍁