The very welcome early fall rains have put us on notice that autumn is here. With the urgency of summer gardening over, we can now turn our attention to some satisfying tasks. First among them is taking a hard look at what is missing in our gardens, and if needed, putting in a coveted plant or two.
Fall is the ideal time to plant or transplant many things. The shorter days discourage top growth while the warm soil encourages strong root growth. This means that plants develop very sturdy bases so the visible growth will be strong and substantial when spring arrives.
Our mild and damp winters also encourage good root growth, and the moisture-laden air decreases the chance of transplant shock. Nurseries often offer some excellent bargains in autumn since many prefer not to carry potted stock over for the winter: watch for sales on perennials, trees and shrubs. Prepare the soil now, before it becomes saturated; working wet soil can compact it, destroying the airspaces between soil particles that plants need for healthy growth. The soft rains we have had so far will just make the digging easier.
Rhododendrons, like most other shrubs and trees, thrive with fall planting. They are arriving now in the nurseries, so choose your favorites while a full selection is available. Rhododendrons are not a deer favorite, so are a good choice in deer country. Monterey Bay Rhododendron Society is holding a free seminar Saturday, Oct. 27, 10 a.m. to noon, at Lumbermens Garden Center, 235 River St., Santa Cruz. Call 423-0223 for information.
Also look now for plants that color up well here in the fall. Some reliable possibilities: Japanese maples, Chinese Pistaches, Japanese persimmons, deciduous blueberries.
Autumn is also a great time to create a compost pile if you don't already have one. A simple welded wire or hardware cloth ring can be used if you don't have time to build anything elaborate. Buy enough wire, about 16 feet long, 4 to 5 feet tall, to create a ring that is approximately 5 feet in diameter.
Attach the cut ends together with some flexible wire and place in a convenient spot. As you do your fall clean-up, toss in the finished plants that you remove from the veggie garden, all those fallen leaves from deciduous trees and shrubs, lawn clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps from your kitchen, and any disease-free organic matter from your garden.
Add some manure from any animal that doesn't eat meat, such as horse, cow, chicken, llama or goat, and over the winter months, all that garden waste will become rich compost to feed next year's garden soil. Turning it all over periodically will speed up the process, and make it "cook" more evenly, though the lazy among us know that turning is not strictly necessary. If you want to know more about the compost process, go online, read any number of books on the subject or attend a workshop. Call 423-HEAP or go to www.compostsantacruzcounty.org for dates for free workshops offered by the Home Composting Program of SC County.
Master composters will teach you how to build "hot" or "add-as-you-go" compost piles or bins. And for free or very inexpensive local sources of manure, visit www.ome.sccrcd.org/find/. Some suppliers will deliver for a small fee; others are load-it-yourself operations. Manure applied as mulch now will be rotted and ready to turn in by spring, greatly enriching the life and health of your garden soil.
If you need to address erosion control issues, do it immediately, since measures need to be in place before hard rains begin. Most garden centers have free handouts on how best to cope with your particular erosion problems, and expert staff can answer your questions about plant or seed choice, erosion fabrics, etc. Because of concerns about the adequacy of our water supplies, we are all hoping for a winter of at least normal rainfall; be prepared if you are on a hillside lot, or have had erosion problems in the past.
-Sharon Hull
