Woody plants grow roots when soils are cool. The more roots you can grow before next summer, the better plants will be able to forage
for water and oxygen to meet the demands of heat. From now through December will be the best time all year for planting trees and shrubs.
That includes fruit trees. Most of the berries (grapes, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries) should wait for spring.
But trees should be planted before Christmas.
now is a good time to do it. Trees and shrubs absorb fertilizer
during active root growth, which coincides
with cool soils. Fertilizer applied during active shoot growth during warmer seasons is of limited value for woody plants.
Once these plants are established, they probably only
need fertilizer every 3 - 4 years or even less often. If you have to prune a lot, the plant may be getting plenty of
fertilizer from other sources. But if they need it, now is the time.
It’s always appropriate to remove anything dead, diseased, or damaged – the 3 Ds.
But avoid stimulating new growth prior to winter. It is usually OK to snip some greenery to supplement your Christmas décor.
Bulb planting is an excellent family activity for the Thanksgiving holiday.
If you’re not home for the holiday, plant them when you get back. Bulbs planted earlier may start to grow before cold
weather and stored energy will be lost.
Wait at least until we have some sustained sub-freezing weather. Loosen the soil thoroughly. Then plant at least as
deep as recommended for the bulb size.
Most bulbs should be planted at least 5 – 8 inches deep.
Pansies, violas, snapdragons, and other cool season plants can still be
planted.
If these plants are established before cold weather sets in, they usually survive as much cold as they will get in our area.
They may lie down and wilt and quit blooming during what passes for severe cold here. But when it warms up a week
later – or even later the same day – they
rebound quite readily. These plants can provide color all winter long. Violas are typically best viewed up close.
They make great plants for window boxes or pots on the deck. Pansies can be used the same way or to fill a bed in a
high visibility spot for a great color impact.
If you plant them about 6-8 inches apart, they make a dense planting with a bold color statement and provide less room
for weeds to get a foothold.
Dig and divide
perennials that bloomed in the spring and early summer.
You can still dig and divide most perennials now, but this is the optimal time for early bloomers.
Recovery is quicker if they are well watered before you dig. Water them in well when replanting.
This time of year, you may not need to water them again before spring. Look around your gardens for bare spots that need a bit of color.
Now is a good time to find just the thing to fill in those spots. You can plant new perennials from now right up to winter.
Basic fertilization program for tall fescue calls for 1/2 pound of nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 square feet of lawn in November.
1/2 pound is the amount of nitrogen in 1.5 pounds of 34-0-0 or 5 pounds of 10-10-10. To determine the fertilizer requirement for other products,
to deliver 1/2 pound of nitrogen divide 50 by the first number in the analysis on the bag. Example, a 16-4-8 fertilizer product:
50 divided by 16 = 3.125. So 3 pounds and 2 ounces of 16-4-8 includes 1/2 pound of nitrogen (you can round that off to 3 pounds). For now
that's enough for an area 50 by 20 or 25 by 40 or a circle with an 18 foot diameter or any combination of 1,000 square feet.
Trees grow roots when soils are cool. The more roots you can grow before next summer, the better the plants will be able to forage
for water and oxygen to meet the demands of heat. From now through December will be the best time all year for planting fruit trees.
Most of the berries (grapes, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries) should wait for spring.
But trees should be planted before Christmas.
Clean up the summer garden.
Plant debris often includes fungi, bacteria, and insect eggs. While they may not have been severe enough to cause problems this year,
allowing them to continue to build up and survive the winter sets you up for problems next year.
A better strategy is to remove all the old stuff and plant a cover crop in areas not committed to the fall garden.
Annual rye, crimson clover, hairy vetch, wheat, or barley can be planted now. They will help reduce erosion, recycle residual fertilizers,
and improve soil structure while adding organic matter.
When the time is right for planting, you know how frustrating it can be if the soil is too wet to work.
If your beds or rows are prepared this fall, then it can be much easier to get into the garden when the time is ripe.
Leaves are what our soil survived on before we built homes and landscapes. Leaves provided recycled nutrients to feed the soil
microorganisms that are essential to the life of our soil. Earthworms, insects, fungi, bacteria, and a wealth of other living
soil organisms feed on leaves and other organic matter and incorporate it into the soil to provide soil structure. Leaves make a good, if
unattractive mulch. Leaves can interfere with the growth of a fescue lawn, so you'll still need to move those. Use them as mulch or
add them to the
compost pile. It's also acceptable to just pile them up until you have a use for them. Some poultry fencing or other enclosure
will keep them from blowing around. They won't decompose rapidly until warm weather. But by this time next year, you will likely have
some good leaf mold to use in creating new beds.
Mulch can help to moderate soil temperatures as well as reduce moisture loss.
Mulch helps reduce cold injury to shallow roots. It allows the soil to cool gradually in the fall, moderates extreme cold temperatures,
allows warming gradually in spring, and moderates extremes of heat in summer. It also reduces moisture loss to evaporation.
Late fall is a good time to make sure plants are mulched. For the tenderest plants, heap mulch up around the crown of the plant
before the first hard freeze. (Remember to rake it back next spring.)
Boxes and forms are available at your
County Extension Office.
Estimated processing time for samples received throughout the fall is about two to three weeks after they
arrive at the lab in Raleigh.
The time delay for processing samples tends to get a little longer throughout the fall. Then after Christmas, the
delay stretches out to several weeks.
Vegetable gardeners who didn’t plan ahead tend to be the most frustrated when they don’t have their reports back as soon as they hoped.
It's good to sample ahead of time for any future plantings. Get samples in as soon as possible for timely reports.
For quickest action get them directly to Raleigh yourself rather than leaving them at any local collection point where they may sit for days or weeks.
You can mail them to the address on the form or deliver them to
the lab in Raleigh. From the State Fairgrounds, go north on
Blue Ridge Road. When you see the Art Museum on the right, turn left on Reedy Creek Rd. The lab is on the right about 1/4 mile down
Reedy Creek Rd. Fall is a good time to get your samples in so that you don’t have to deal with delays in February or March. It’s
easier to take samples when the soil is moist.
such as
henbit,
chickweed, and
hairy bittercress.
Selective post-emergent herbicides can be applied to these small inconspicuous weeds now before they become obvious next spring.
These products will be more effective on days when the temperature is above 40F all day long, especially if it gets up in the 60s or 70s.
If herbicides are not in your repertoire, continue with hand weeding or whatever strategy you use.
Be careful not to damage the roots of trees and shrubs with the hoe or the trunks and stems with trimmers.
on junipers, arbor vitae, other conifers, azaleas, hollies, and camellias.
These mites are often noticed only after the damage is done (interior browning of foliage in early summer)
and when the pests are no longer present. Use the white paper test to monitor for them. Hold a piece of paper (or even a white glove)
under a stem and shake the foliage vigorously. Pause and observe the debris that falls out. Ignore anything that moves quickly.
Watch for a speck smaller than a period on this page to begin moving. If you confirm the presence of mites, visit this
Insect Note for mangement options.
take all efforts to make sure it is well watered before you bring it in the house.
Once you get it home, make a fresh cut to remove about an inch from the bottom of the trunk.
Immediately place it in a bucket of water and leave it in a shady spot out of the wind.
Check the next day to replenish the water supply. Once the rapid uptake slows after 2-3 days, you can bring the tree inside.
Check daily, and keep it watered throughout the holidays to reduce chance of fire. Use only UL listed cords in good repair.
Turn lights off when you leave the house.
Things to Do