Estabrook's Garden Newsletter

Putting Your Vegetable Garden to Bed

Removing dead plants and turning over your soil will help your garden get through the winter

With soaring food prices over the past year, you may have planted your very first vegetable garden this season. Now that fall is here, some important steps should be taken to protect your hard work and ensure you'll be enjoying fresh vegetables year after year.

The first step is to remove any dead plants and place them in your compost pile. (For tips on starting a compost pile, see the advice section of our website). Next, turn the soil using a pitchfork. Simply stab, lift and flip the soil over throughout your vegetable garden. Doing this will expose destructive insects to freezing temperatures and help your soil retain nutrients throughout the winter.

After you've flipped your soil over, use a broad fork to loosen the soil underneath. Simply insert it into the ground and rock it back and forth gently. After you've broken up the soil, add a 4 to 6 inch layer of compost. Earthworms will gravitate to the compost and pull it down into the subsoil to improve the overall health of your planting area.

Put all those leaves you're raking to good use by placing them over your vegetable garden for added protection. A six inch layer, followed by a three inch layer of straw is ideal. Finally, apply fertilizer and give the entire area a good soaking with the hose.

Fall Pruning Guide

Careful pruning can prevent harmful breakage from winter snow loads

Fall is a great time to take a careful look around and get a head start on spring by doing a little nipping here and there on trees and shrubs that may not be overgrown yet but soon might be.

However, we don't recommend revving up the chain saw or power pruners. The jobs most gardeners should be tackling on their own require hand tools like pruners, loppers or hand saws.

When using tools like these, remember to practice safe habits by working with a helper, knowing your limitations, and taking your time when attempting any of the following pruning techniques. If you think a job is too big for you, it probably is, so call a nursery professional here at Estabrook's to talk you through it or recommend professional tree and shrub pruning help.

Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - Prune out or reduce the length of any long shoots from the previous season to give the plant a more dense and symmetrical shape. Remember that less is more. Try not to prune or reduce more than a third of last year's new growth, as winter injury to the plant can occur.

Spruce and Fir (Picea and Abies spp.) - Like hemlock, prune out or reduce the length of any long shoots from the previous season to give the plant a more dense and symmetrical shape. Do not cut the central or topmost leader of the plant; this will result in a "medusa" headed plant susceptible to breakage.

Crabapples (Malus spp.) - Remove any crossing branches and "sucker growth", which is growth that is smoother and more rapid growing than the bulk of the tree. Be careful when removing growth that is more than a season old though, since this will reduce flowering (sucker growth does not carry flower buds). Do not remove more than three or four limbs that are thicker than your thumb in one season.

Spiraea japonica and bumalda - These spirea can be sheared in half or if the amount of snow we have allows it, as low as you can! These plants will jump right up again in spring and look full and lush again. If you're unsure of the type of spirea you have, give our staff a call or refer to our web site.