I changed my mind. I’m not giving in just yet!
Cold frosty mornings are not going to discourage me and neither will the shorter days. My gardens are still appealing and full of interest this time of year and certainly worth venturing into even this late in the season. With varying layers of plant texture and rustic colors of gold, amber, brown and russet that truly define a “November” perennial garden, it’s hard to walk away unsatisfied.
Now I’m not going to say that I enjoy it as much as the July and August garden, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel and entirely abandon the garden and landscape just yet either. With a little effort now, I might even find ways to keep the garden and its surroundings quite visual throughout the entire winter.
And why not? It seems to me that our gardens and landscape decorations should have a soothing visual impact regardless of the time of year. The garden is certainly not a dead place in the winter. In fact, there is much to be found and discovered in the garden, and it’s a time of year when many plants have their moment of glory.
Buddleia (Butterfly bush) is a classic summer blooming
perennial shrub, but it is rather uncommonly thought of as a “winter specimen” plant. They do, however, develop an interesting form in winter, particularly if seed heads are left on. Many will also flower into late autumn, especially if the bush is located in a protected location.
Ornamental grasses are wildly popular these days and with good reason — they provide a spectacular fall show as they send up interestingly shaped seedpods and maintain their tall, stiff stature until the very end of winter. Some of the best varieties to look for are Festuca glauca Blue Glow, Deschampsia caepitosa Golden Dew and my favorite, Miscanthus sinensis Gracillimus.
Of course, many planters are vacant from the once vigorous display of annual flowers that blossomed so generously all summer long. While there isn’t much that can be done to replace the brightly colored annuals, I do have several planters that continue to provide garden interest the entire year.
A rather large clay pot is the home for one of the prettiest, and by far one of the slowest growing Japanese maple trees (Acer palmatum) called Shishigashira. It has dark green leaves all summer long, but in the fall the leaves turn gold and russet and are very slow in shedding them. When all the leaves have fallen, this beautiful 12-year-old specimen will unveil its elegant winter shape all winter long.
I’ll continue to search for decorative ways that’ll provide a bit of sparkle and interest to help brighten up dark winter days. Unfortunately, many outdoor decorations in our landscapes and on our homes are viewed as strictly a holiday chore that need to be taken down soon after the new year starts. On the contrary, winter garden decorations should be viewed as something that last the entire winter season. A few simple touches here and there can add gleams of warmth and cheer in otherwise “non-gardening” months.
Now is a great time before the snow falls to scour the woods and even your own backyard for plant gatherings that you can use as winter decorations. I’ve managed to collect several bushels full of laurel, boxwood cuttings, various evergreen tips, sedum, dried branches, pinecones, dogwood, ilex and artemisia. Actually, you can even use a host of spent plant materials that the cold weather has already killed and dried.
Where to begin? I’d suggest taking a good 20 steps back from the front of your house and really take a good look at it. Any design must be based on the setting of your home and it must be appropriate. Some homes look great with a soft spotlight on just a single wreath. Tie a red ribbon on it and its Christmas. Remove it after the holidays and you’re left with an elegant, wintry decoration for the season.
How about those empty urns and planters? You can create wonderful focal points in a white snowy landscape with very little effort. Imagine that giant urn that flowed so wonderfully all summer long with tuberous begonias, now filled with a clustering of red-berried Ilex verticillata. Wrap some green damp moss around the base the stems as a collar and you’ve got a beautiful winter “planting” that’ll last until spring.
Window boxes are another component of the garden and landscape that gardeners also desert during the winter months. Why not take a few moments and brighten up the outside and inside views of your window box by stuffing it full of lush garden materials!
Begin by buying blocks of florist’s foam and cut them to fit precisely inside the (soil removed) window boxes. I like to have a broad variation of colors and textures in winter window boxes so I usually start out by adding tall evergreen branches of yew, fir, juniper, white pine and even rhododendron branches.
Next, a sampling of strawflowers, artemisia, nigella, herb pods and whatever else I find that will add interest and depth to the arrangement are added. Here again, if you choose too, add a bow for the holidays or simply leave it as it is.
Making my own garland is something I wish I had both the time and patience to do. That doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to cheat a bit and still call it you’re own. I’ll buy a standard, single garland from the nursery and then customize it with cuttings from my yard.
You can really create stunning roping by incorporating braids of boxwood, pine, yew and even dogwood branches. It doesn’t take a whole bunch of time nor does one really need a lot of it. A few long strands swaggered over a white fence or wrapped around a fireplace indoors is quite nice.
The next few weeks is ample time to get the yard decorated — winter is right around the corner and isn’t it nice to be able to “garden” right through all of it.
Q.: My blueberry bushes didn’t produce fruit this season. Normally, all bushes furnish enough blueberries for my own use as well as my friends and neighbors, as they have done for more than 20 years. Instead of producing berries this year, the bushes became “trees,” more than doubling in height from April to June. I’d really appreciate any suggestions you might offer. A. Smith, Fairfield.
A.: In your letter you mentioned that a local agricultural extension service suggested a late frost this year may be the culprit as to why your blueberries did not produce fruit. I highly doubt that’s what happened. I get the feeling your bushes are in desperate need of pruning. Blueberries are generally self-shaping and only need some thinning each winter to stay healthy and productive. However, if regular dormant pruning is not followed, otherwise productive plants will, over time, become less and less “fruitful.”
Prune in late winter or early spring just before growth begins each year. Remove prostrate canes and canes that are less than two feet tall, cutting them off flush with the base of the bush. If more than two or three new upright canes grew the previous summer, remove the extras. Also, remove canes from the center of the bush (this opens the bush to air and sunlight), and cut them flush with the base of the bush. I’d also check the pH of the soil, as blueberries require extreme acidity (4 to 4.5). Maintaining a proper pH will help these plants enormously in all aspects.
Readers of this column are invited to submit garden tips and questions to this column. Questions of general interest will be published as space permits. Mail to: Bing J. Carbone, 5 High Meadow Road, Huntington CT 06484 or e-mail Bjcgardens@aol.com
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