|
Garden club learns how to winterize
Garden klutz just gets confused by the details
BY MARGO OXENDINE • STAFF WRITER
 | | Vivian Manis was among 17 Warm Springs Valley Garden Club members and guests to attend a field day at Buffalo Springs Herb Farm in Raphine recently. While autumn is foremost in the decor right now, Buffalo Springs will be dressed and ready for the Christmas holidays after November first. The gift shop is chockablock with wonderful somethings for deserving someones. (Recorder photos by Margo Oxendine) |
|
RAPHINE - Fall is here and winter is on it's way. It's time to put your garden to bed.
Ladies from the Warm Springs Valley Garden Club spent a pleasant afternoon at the Buffalo Springs Herb Farm recently, learning just how to do that.
I attended the instructional, inspirational field trip as a guest. To call me a nascent gardener would be a compliment.
Don Haynie, who owns and operates Buffalo Springs with his partner, Tom Hamlin, knows all about putting gardens to bed. The 12 theme gardens at Buffalo Springs are fragrant and gorgeous, no matter what the season.
At this time of year, though, Haynie advises to concentrate on pruning and cleaning, especially shrubs like boxwood.
 | | Don Haynie gave the Warm Springs Valley Garden Club tips on winterizing their gardens, and then took everyone for a stroll through some of the dozen theme gardens at Buffalo Springs Herb Farm. A tasty lunch, laced with fresh herbs, completed the afternoon. |
|
Boxwood should be deep-watered now, and then pruned, or thinned, just after Thanksgiving, along with your evergreens. Leaving air pockets, he noted, "makes for a healthy shrub."
"Pay attention to pruning," Haynie says, "because once you let it get past a certain point, you may as well pull it all out and start over.'
Yikes. As Haynie waxed wonderfully about shrubs and herbs (pronounce the "h", I learned) and such, my mind waned. He fondly mentioned "nandina" quite a few times. The garden club ladies nodded knowingly; I mentally scratched my head. He kept bringing up "plant tone." The lecture was over before I finally got it: Plant Tone is a commercial fertilizer. I think.
Quick with his hands and fleet with his fingers, Haynie waved aloft a round, bare wire-like form, advising the club ladies to purchase some just like it. Then, he showed off sprigs of the shiniest boxwood I've ever seen, popped them into the form, twisted a little doodad and, voila, a lovely wreath began to take shape.
I carefully wrote down his instructions: After pruning your boxwoods, mist the pieces and put them in a big, black garbage bag. Then, mist again. Close the bag tight, and store it in a cool place for at least 40 hours (set those clocks!), or up to two weeks (more like it!). The sprigs will be "nice and crisp, and feel really healthy," Haynie noted. When you're ready to make your wreath(s), lay the sprigs out on a table to dry off. Then, seal them with spritz of acrylic floor wax.
Excuse me? Floor wax? Yes! Who knew? You can do the same with attractive small apples, if you're not too hungry. If the wreath is going to be hung outside, you may also spray it with Pam. Do that with an indoor wreath, though, and you'll end up with grease spots on your wall. Perish the thought.
The Garden Guru made his preferences clear: "The only wreath that I approve of using just one green in is boxwood, because it's so Virginia."
As he displayed the finished product - something I knew I could never achieve - he noted, "This is so much better than a wreath you bring out of the attic for Advent year after year."
I agreed, for all the good it did me.
Around these parts, Haynie advised buying "wintergreen boxwood," which is very adaptable. Sadly, he noted that the old favorite, English boxwood, is diseased and dying out across the state.
Haynie had lots of garden tips about mulch, which I never knew was such a complicated thing. Then again, what do I know? Tips included: Mulch in November, when it's cooler; remove all debris before mulching; only put an inch or two of it down, and leave a couple inches between the mulch and the base of the tree. Turns out, moles and voles love to spend the winter snuggled under a mulch blanket. Who could blame them? It seems rather a shame to spoil their vacation. Why can't we all just get along?
Now is the time to remove your annuals, by the way. "Get them out of the garden!" Haynie emphasized. "And if they're diseased, don't put them in the compost pile; burn them."
Composting. The more I heard about it, the less it appealed to me. It seems like quite a bit of work.
"If you're not turning your compost pile monthly and watering it, you're wasting your time," Haynie noted. "It's not going to cook. Home composting takes at least a year to cook."
At least, I think that's what he said. I finally put aside my notebook in utter confusion. Learning to garden is difficult enough for me; now, I'm also expected to cook?
For those of you who are more domestically inclined, here are a few more tips from my notes: Rake the soil after you remove your annuals; sprinkle seeds that winter well, like poppies, turnips, kale and nigella. I've no idea what nigella is, and no special affinity for either turnips, or kale.
Prune climbers, like roses, now, and don't forget to tie them. Deepwater perennials if there's no rain, and then mulch them with compost. Or something. Use soft mulch for hardwoods. Put Wiltproof on your evergreens. Prune your earlyspring flowers and shrubs just after they bloom. Late January or early February is the time for major tree pruning. Divide and transplant your perennials before Thanksgiving.
Whew! I think I'll stick to trying to remember to water my sole surviving African violet - from the bottom! - and leave it at that.
Here's the best advice of the day: If you have a question, call the local extension office, and ask to speak with a Master Gardener.
|
)
)