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SOUTHERN VOICE
OCTOBER 14/1993
MARIA HELENA DOLAN
hat incomparable rewards we are blessed
with whilst gardening in the South.
Consider the entire month of October.
Yankee gardeners have already witnessed
the demise of their summer stuff and now have but a few
tedious winter options open, involving cold frames, row
covers, etc. But down here, we can reasonably expect toma
toes until Halloween, or even Thanksgiving, if we manage
to avoid an early frost. Naturally, that means summer annu
als loo, as well as tender perennials remaining intact. Then,
the fall stuff comes on line.
Thus, we can generally count on enjoying a positive
embarrassment of riches: the summer lingering via gerani
ums, asters, dahlias, roses, phlox, zinnia, salvia, marigolds
and unspent summer veggies, as well as the cooler season
harbingers of mums, some camellias and berries from such
natives as possum-haw and non-natives such as Japanese
beauty berry.
We justifiably wax rhapsodic about having the best of
both worlds. And we just need to do two things to keep that
summer stuff alive a bit longer. First, keep them watered,
and, second, keep them mulched (After a frost, watch for
cottoneaster and firethom to color-up, too).
Now, why are these two basic things so important? First
of all, a well-watered (albeit, not drowned) plant is ipso
facto hardier than a water-deprived plant. A healthy plant
survives environmental stresses much more easily than an
already-stressed plant.
So if the plant is getting about an inch of water a week
(preferably from a good one-time soaking, not small, daily
shots), she’ll face drying winds and cooler temps with great
strength and determination.
And of course, mulch assists in this, for it retards evapo
ration. Generally, a mulched plant will retain water longer
and require less of it than a non-mulchcd plant.
Additionally, mulch provides a thermal blanket, cooling
in great heal and warming in colder temps. So water and
mulch arc a vital pair, not just for the summer things but all
year round.
October also means fertilizer application and soil tests.
Now, you don’t want tender things to put on a great spurt of
growth just before frosty temps nip at them. But fertilizer is
good for evergreens, lawns (if you must), bulbs, beds, etc. I
like rotted leaves, bone meal and manure, of course; and so
do the green people.
Before applying things, it’s a good idea to soil test. It is
positively criminal to lime or add acidic things if your soil
strays out of the ideal spot for a particular plant’s growth.
Yes, some plants like it acidic (blueberries, oaks, ever
greens, dogwoods, etc.). Some want it a little sweeter (most
vegetables and bulbs). Some like it sweeter still (grasses and
baby’s breath). Yes, I’m talking pH value of the soil.
Technically, pH is a scale which measures the level of
hydrogen ion activity in the soil. The scale is from zero
(extremely acidic) to 14 (extremely alkaline), with seven
being the neutral point.
Generally, the closer you move from acidic to neutral
(say, from 5 to 6.5), the more nutrients become available to
roots for uptake. However, if a plant likes acid and gets
alkaline, it turns yellow and withers. And the reverse is true,
too.
Given the importance then of knowing your soil type,
how do you discover what you have? It’s true that our clay
soils tend to be acidic. But for an accurate picture, you really
must soil lest, cither on your own or through the state. While
the testing is no longer provided free by the county agricul
tural extension service, I find the S4 fee to be money well
spent.
True, you can buy those little kits in hardware stores.
However, the analysis you receive from the extension ser
vice is so thorough (not just whether the soil will work for
the plants you said you intend to put in) that the other stuff
simply pales in comparison.
Based on what you learn, you will know whether to add
wood ashes (alkaline) or cottonseed meal (acidic) or what
ever. This is in addition to the manure, leaves and bone
meal, of course.
Not only is October an opportune time to learn what
you’ve got, it’s also an excellent time for cleaning up. Take
a critical look at what remains out there. Remove those old
com stalks, gladiola stems, downed twigs and branches,
debris and fallen fruit. Insects and disease will happily spend
the winter in these if you do not. With gardening as in the
rest of life, a little prevention now means peace of mind
later.
If October lakes a turn for the cool, you can pul in the
early flowering Dutch bulbs, prepare other bulb beds, re
move border plants, put in all types of shrubs and divide
perennials (Elizabeth Lawrence would approve). And don’t
forget that now is a good time for putting in spinach, radish,
onions—seeds and sets—even lettuce and greens.
If October stays warm, sow hardly annuals (such as
larkspur), dig up those sweet potatoes before any frost, pick
the last summer fruits and prep the outside potted plants for
indoor life (stop fertilizing, cut down on watering and move
them inside for parts of the day if feasible).
If you do all that good prep work now, you’ll be more
than ready for next month’s heavy planting schedule. And
November is indeed our month to plant, plant, plant—ev-
erything from shrubs to trees to bulbs to roses to pansies to
English peas.
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