What Else Should You Do With Flowers In The Fall?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The previous article covered some of the tasks for caring for a flower garden in the fall. Some, but not all. In this article, we will continue to talk about autumn work on our flower beds

Rose care

In September, we begin to prepare roses for wintering. No, it is too early to cut and cover the bushes, they can die from overheating. But nevertheless, we begin to prepare the bush itself for wintering.

First of all, we completely stop watering roses, regardless of the weather outside. Even if September is warm and dry, watering is still not carried out. This will help stop the growth of the shoots and strengthen the main bush, its branches will become stiffer. We pinch the tops of young shoots so that they do not grow, but simply thicken and strengthen. We cut off all unblown buds. There is little sense from flowering now, but the nutrients that the bush will need in winter will be used up to open the buds.

We carefully examine the bushes for diseases. If the leaves are covered with spots, we spray all the roses with Bordeaux liquid. If there are branches infected or infected with pests, we remove them. We also carefully check the bushes for the presence of shoots - "rose hips". If there are any, then we take a shovel and carefully cut them off from the bush. There is no benefit from them, roses from these processes will not work, they only interfere with the main bush. In addition, if you leave the rose hips, then gradually the main bush will become "wild" and the flowers will be small. In addition, you can carry out the first autumn pruning of the bushes. We cut off all the processes to a height of about a meter and a half from the ground. Everything, we leave the roses alone until the last stage of preparation for winter.

Planting lilies

September is a great time to plant lilies, as before the fall frosts the plants will have time to root perfectly and easily survive the autumn and winter cold. We prepare the site for planting a few days before planting the bulbs. Spread a mixture of peat, humus, mineral fertilizers, ash, droplets of manure evenly onto the flower bed (you can do without it). Then we carefully dig up the ground. We level the flower bed, water it and leave it to rest for 5 to 20 days before planting the lilies.

Then we start planting the tubers. Lilies are planted at a distance of 15-20 centimeters from each other, buried in, you can slightly mulch with straw, and leave to winter. Further care will be needed only in the spring.

We remove cannes, calla lilies and other delicate plants for the winter

In the fall, barely waiting for the first frost, we remove all thermophilic southern plants such as cannes, calla lilies, begonias and others for the winter. To do this, carefully dig up their roots together with an earthen lump, dry well (also together with the earth!) And put them in a dry, cool (temperature 5-7 degrees Celsius) and dark room. For example, in the basement.

Preparing irises for wintering

While it's not too cold, you can tackle the irises. If the flowers have grown a lot and their tubers are crawling out of the ground, they need to be dug up, carefully divided and planted. About a couple of weeks after planting, we cut off all the leaves of the irises, lightly cover the flower bed with straw or spruce branches and leave it for the winter. If you do not plant tubers crawling out of the ground, then the irises will simply freeze out in winter, despite the shelter.

Collecting flower seeds

In the fall, most of the summer flowers have already completed flowering and their seeds are ripe. We carefully collect the seeds from the largest seed pods. Then we dry them in a warm, well-ventilated room and put them in boxes or simply pour them into paper (not plastic!) Bags, and put them away until spring. In the spring we sow seeds in prepared flower beds.