I know the gardening season is drawing to a close, but I am absolutely sick of using my electric weed trimmer (That’s the official title for a weed whacker.) and needing to go just three more inches. Even worse, it unplugs at the worst possible moment and I have to trudge back to the other end to plug it back in. After fighting with the thing all summer, I’ve decided to treat myself to a battery powered weed whacker. It was half off and had 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, so I’m pretty sure it’ll work well, but I’ll report back.
I did look into gas powered models, but they are about twice as much and had fewer stars.
If you don’t want to wait to hear my report, here’s a link to my new toy:

As the days turn colder, I am so busy preparing my garden for the winter months that I find little time for anything else. If you live in colder climates, you will need to get your houseplants indoors before temperatures plunge too severely. Make sure you check your plants for pests before bringing them in. Mild soap and water sprayed on plants prone to spider mites and white fly is a good preventative measure. (It is a good idea to mist the foliage of plants such as Lemon Verbena with water every week throughout the winter.) Repot any plants that have grown drastically throughout the summer.

Do you have annuals such as Coleus and Begonia that you would like to overwinter? I actually will pot up one plant and take cuttings in early spring to avoid babying a bunch of the little guys through the long winter months. Tender Geraniums can be overwintered in pots, but you can also dig them up, remove all soil from their roots, and hang them upside down in paper bags in a cool, but not cold, place. Make sure they do not dry out completely. I occasionally dampen the roots every few weeks after checking for mold and making sure they are not already too damp.

I have quite a few herbs to overwinter. With some, such as Rosemary, I just take cuttings and root them in water. Others, such as Lemon Verbena or Bay Trees, I grow in pots and bring in for the winter. As they get bigger, (Lemon Verbena can reach 5 feet in one year.) I put the pots on wheels to make them easier to move in and out of the house. French Tarragon and other small herbs are easy to dig and pot up for the winter.

Finally, as the first hard frost hits, I can begin digging and storing Dahlia tubers, Elephant Ears, and other tender bulbs. After the foliage blackens, dig the tubers carefully. Gently clean off the dirt and allow them to dry before storing them in open boxes of pine shavings or peat for the winter. My cellar is ideal for overwintering the bulbs. You want a cool, dry space. Check on your bulbs once a month to be sure mice haven’t gotten into them if you are storing them in a shed or other area prone to a mouse invasion.

Once the ground thaws in spring, you can begin bringing out your hardier bulbs and you should pot up your Geraniums so they can break dormancy. Once the last hard frost is past, you can begin moving out your other bulbs and plants.

Welcome to the September 16, 2007 edition of garden fest. Can you believe that autumn is only a few days away? (Unless you’re in Australia, of course.) Soon, it will be time to start raking up all those lovely leaves to make leaf mold for the gardens.

Silvia presents Pictures from the Garden posted at Po Moyemu–In My Opinion.

Barbra Sundquist presents How to Make Fruit and Vegetable Edible Creations posted at Edible Creations.

Garden Hints

Kate Burgess presents Old Furniture? New Raised Garden! posted at Gardening Article by Kate, saying, “Turning old wooden furniture into a raised garden. In this case it was an old entertainment unit.”

Great idea, huh? I have a few pieces I could do that with.

savingadvice presents Five Favorite Plants That Are Frugal posted at SavingAdvice.com Blog, saying, “Five plants that will liven up a garden without costing a fortune”

Shirley presents Growing Heucheras From Seed posted at Choosing Voluntary Simplicity, saying, “Growing heucheras from seeds you harvest yourself can be a very interesting project because most of the resulting seedlings will look very different from the parent plants and you never know what you will get. My ordinary green heuchera produces many different colored seedlings in a range of colors from red to orange.”

Gardening Brags

Stephanie presents >Sweetness posted at Stop the Ride!.

Misc.

GP presents INNside Innkeeping in Montana: Here’s Mud in your EyeInnside Innkeeping in Montana posted at Fish Creek House - INNside Innkeeping, saying, “Lesson from the greenhouse this morning… never fails to amaze me. As I was perusing the state of the union aka the plants, I couldnt help thinking, when you plant a seed, the first thing that comes up isn’t the perfectly formed sprout. The first thing that comes up is dirt. Same thing with setting intent. Same thing with shifting your thoughts to create a better reality. Same thing with new habits and patterns.”

Alta presents Garden Gnome posted at >Love Country Living.

GrrlScientist presents Dahlia posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, “A stunning black and white image of a flower. It’s just an image, but wow, what an image it is!”

Annette Berlin presents How To Grow Hydroponic Herbs posted at Frugal Journey, saying, “I’m not much of a gardener. I’m too afraid of snakes and spiders to enjoy playing in the mud. And, the one year I really tried to grow something, my entire yield was three green peppers and a rotten watermelon.

The one exception to my purple thumb is hydroponic herbs. Growing hydroponic herbs is so easy, even I can do it. It’s a no-brainer.”

Stephanie presents Canning & Freezing Pumpkin posted at Stop the Ride!.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
garden fest using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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