It is far from drab, even as winter dusk draws in. Rains, at long last, saturating fields and woods! Dampness intensifies the golds and russets of grasses and foliage; slanting light deepens their glow.
Fiery Japanese maples and rusty-red deciduous conifers, such as bald cypress and dawn redwood, exit colorfully as they cycle into winter dormancy (bit.ly/W_deciduous_conifers). In addition to the autumn oranges and russets, taxodium and metasequoia are moisture-tolerant and hardy on the Island, and make handsome choices for swales and wet sites.
Figs and pruning
The ‘Brown Turkey’ fig tree lives in an extra-large pot, and goes into the barn for the winter. Info from Internet: When all the leaves drop, growth has “lignified,” or become woody and dormant. I gathered my nerve to prune it.
But wait! Why not Google again? “Ross the Figboss” at figboss.com has an extensive library of posts and videos, to the extent it is almost information overload.
It was encouraging to learn that figs can hardly be overpruned, because this is the means of renovating them, or of reducing the effects of endemic fig mosaic virus. Although late winter may be preferable, I took loppers and pruners to it, and pared away everything that seemed extraneous.
In this fig’s case, pruning was the means to get the plant to fit where it is to spend the winter, between the band saw and the space under the barn stairs.
Other years I have left the prunings in a bucket of water for rooting (change water once in a while, or add charcoal). Check the prunings for roots, and pot on when they appear. This year I discarded them — too many other projects. However, fig wood does root easily, which is how I came by this plant in the first place.
Now that Island conditions are more favorable than ever for fig culture, I encourage others to propagate and share out cuttings. Together we can also share the best ways to grow and enjoy them.
Shrinking the lawn
“Do as I say, not as I do” came due over the summer. It was in connection with lawn size.
I regularly advocate No Mow May (or perhaps, even longer) for pollinator, amphibian, and bird support. I could see the advantages of expanding the “garbage garden” (term of endearment), an area where small divisions and rooted pieces of things that come home with me from work are heeled in or planted.
I advocate for understanding the shallowness of lawn-aesthetic imperatives, and of asking Islanders likewise to see the emptiness of their use. It is a contentious topic.
As a gardener interested in protecting the quality of Island waters, both fresh and salt, the destructive aspects nationally and locally of the lawn culture are hard to ignore. Lawn culture uses the most water of any other American “crop.” Nationwide, turf grass is estimated to cover more than 40 million acres — many of them in chronically drought-stricken areas — an area three times larger than the amount dedicated to corn.
Lawn culture uses 80 million pounds of pesticide annually, and 90 million pounds of chemical fertilizers, which pose health hazards as they enter the water table and food chain. Additionally, 26.7 million tons of air pollutants from lawn-maintenance machinery are introduced into our atmosphere annually. A cynical quip on that topic from a local landscaper: “That’s not noise — that’s the sound of money!”
Personally, here at home there is less soccer and lacrosse practice, and just one dog needing room to romp, helping make it clear: We no longer needed quite the expanse of greensward we had been maintaining, albeit casually, for 40-plus years.
So I began to shrink the lawn. Trial and error eventually produced a pleasing balance and reduction of green grass to brown planting-bed area.
‘Stinzenplanten’ lawn
The lawn reduction project connected with the Dutch concept of the ‘Stinzenplanten,’ as I read bulb catalogs. ‘Stinzenplanten,’ lacking a good translation, is something like the concept of “flowery mead”: many small flowering plants emerging from turf. Pursue this link for many wonderful images of Dutch houses and Stinze: bit.ly/JS_Stinzen.
I purchased a preassorted ‘Stinzenplanten’ blend of small bulbs that have deer, rabbit, and chipmunk resistance, and planted them in the middle of the main section of remaining lawn. The collection consists of corydalis; species crocus; eranthis; galanthus; scilla; and Tulipa sylvestris.
Come spring, the assortment will pop up over an extended period, and then the foliage will need to ripen and die down. I shall report how it goes.
Groundcovers
Groundcovers may be assets in lawn-shrinking plans, but there are caveats. They are by nature, and by design, plants that spread and cover the ground. They may be evergreen (vinca, English ivy, pachysandra) or deciduous (aegopodium, lily of the valley, ceratostigma).
Their job is to make expanses and surplus areas of a garden or landscape look uniform or presentable, while minimizing maintenance. Siting includes underplanting trees and hedges, covering soil in shrubberies, or taking the place of lawn.
It is a myth that groundcover use eliminates maintenance costs — reduces, maybe. Weeding and controlling spread are every bit as necessary as in any other part of the garden.
Groundcovers lose their uniformity and usefulness, or tidiness, once they host interloping plants of another kind, such as goldenrod or poison ivy. Many need trimming or other forms of maintenance. Ivy wants nothing so much as a tree or other vertical to climb, or shingles to squeeze under.
Aegopodium, ivy, and pachysandra, to name three, are thuggish once they gather volume and run amuck. And, by nature, groundcovers are good at expanding their reach. Choose with clear understanding of what is being introduced into the garden.
In the garden
Much preparation for next year’s garden is done in fall, but resist the urge to prune half-hardy sub-shrubs. They need the protection of old wood to weather abrupt temperature changes (cold shock).
Take rosemary cuttings; they root readily in water. Amazing ‘Blue Mermaid’ pole beans are still yielding. Cut down asparagus ferns when yellowed; leave if still green.
Spread soil mix from containers on beds and gardens. Lay quality organic fertilizer (“soil food”) before mulching, kick-starting and supporting soil bioactivity. Keep mulch layer 3 inches away from trunks and tree root flares.
Leaf harvest: Let the leaves come to you. Collect from places where the wind already lodges them.
