What happened to autumn? Before the leaves had fully turned, we had temperatures in the 30s and snow flurries. But this is not unusual for Minnesota, and by the time you are reading this we will probably have more sunny days and temperatures back up into the 50s. However there is no denying that daylight hours will dwindle, leaves and temperatures will fall, and that it is time to attend to our autumn chores, preparing our lawns and gardens for their long winter sleep.
As of this writing we have not had frost, but there will undoubtedly be one before too long. If you haven not already done so, it is time to bring in any of your houseplants that have been enjoying the summer outdoors. When bringing in your houseplants, make sure they are insect free; many little buggers like to hide on the underside of leaves. Look for any leaf damage and trim it off. Clean off any debris on the soil and wipe off the pot and tray, to make sure you are not bringing in any pathogens.
This is also an excellent time to transplant into a larger pot. After an active outdoor growing period plants can benefit from being transplanted into a large pot, preferably no more than 2” larger. The reduced sunlight available in the fall and being indoors, your houseplants will be entering a semi-dormant or ‘resting’ period, so do not fertilize houseplants until February when daylight will start to increase.
Outdoors it is time to clean up the garden – but this year we can consider our pollinators, especially bees, when doing so. Many bees and other beneficial insects are still out there feeding on our late blooming plants such as aster, zinnias and sedums. It will benefit the pollinators if we leave the blooming plants in the garden as long as possible. The first nips of frost may damage some blooming annuals but not necessarily kill them. You can protect your plants when a frost is forecast by throwing a light sheet over them at night – but be sure to remove it in the morning. If you have annuals in containers you can move the containers into a shed, garage or the house overnight. If the containers are too large you can try moving them close together in a protected area.
Many of us want to clean up our gardens in the fall rather than wait for the spring, but there are several things we can do to help our pollinators overwinter. Leaving some leaf mulch in your garden will provide an excellent spot for queen bees to overwinter. Just tuck a pile of leaves under a bush or shrub. If you cut down hollow stemmed plants, such as Monarda, Joe Pye Weed, or Echinacea leave some stems standing 12” to 18” tall. This provides an excellent place for non-social bees, such as our native Mason bees to build a nest. In fact if your plants are sufficiently dry there may already be bees in the stems. If you don’t want to leave the stems standing you can bundle up a number of hollow stems and place them in an out of way spot. You can also use the stems to make a bee house.[i]
For our trees and shrubs, the important thing to help them through the winter is water, water water. We have had sufficient rain this fall, but if we should experience a dry spell keep your woody plants watered until the ground freezes.
As for the lawn, keep mowing as long as the grass keeps growing. You don’t want the grass to be longer than 3” when it gets covered with snow, because this can mean snow mold in the spring. This is the same reason you should rake up or mulch your leaves. If you have only a few leaves on your lawn you can simply mulch them with your mower, provided your mower blade is sharp and the leaves will be mulched enough for the particles to fall between the blades of grass. Otherwise it is best to rake up the leaves, put them in yard waste bags and put them out for pick up. The City will continue to pick up yard waste until the week of November 18-22.
Lastly I would encourage everyone to clean out the street storm drains near your house. This will prevent plant materials and trash from polluting our creeks, lakes and river and producing fish killing algae. It will also help to prevent street flooding in the spring – when the spring rains cannot drain into the storm sewers because the catch basins are frozen over with trash, debris and plant material. Check the storm drains periodically over the winter to make sure they are clear. And if you want to be part of the city-wide effort to keep our storm drains free and clear you can join the Adopt-a-Drain program through the City’s website or at adopt-a-drain.org
Once you have completed all the fall chores – it will be time to relax before the fire and take it easy knowing you are well prepared for a green spring.
[i] You can learn more about building a bee house at the University of Minnesota Extension Service website extension.mn.edu