To Do This Week

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Week of October 10th, 2009

• Time to plant trees! Be sure to dig the hole no deeper than the root ball, but make the hole much wider. You might add a little compost to the top of the soil or around the soil, but in general, don't amend your soil too much. If you plant a tree that's right for your area, it should live in the soil that you have, so you want to go ahead and be tough with that tree from the minute that you plant it.
• If you've ordered tulips or hyacinths, it's time to put those in the refrigerator for some chilling time before you plant them in December. If you've ordered some bulbs through the mail order catalog and you've purchased them and you've purchased tulips or hyacinth, its time to put those in the fridge and get them ready to be planted out in December. They do need 8 to 12 weeks in your refrigerator. Also, check out this list of naturalizing bulbs that do not need refrigeration and will return for years.
• Is your compost pile slowing down? In summer, it was because there wasn't enough water on it. Now, it's because we got a lot of rain! It's time to turn that pile and get it active again. If you dig down into it and you notice it's not hot, if there's no steam coming off of it, turning it will help.
• Continue planting cool season vegetables and flowers. Right now, it's better to start with transplants, rather than seeds. Seeds may not have time to germinate before it gets cold. If we have an early frost, they will get damaged by that and you will see some trouble with that.
• Select stocky plants for your vegetable and ornamental garden. That will ensure that they have not been in their containers too long and they will take off nice and good for you.

More October Tips