Gardening This Weekend: November 28, 2024
Here’s that short list of prime gardening tasks to accomplish in the next several days.
PLANT
• Daffodils and grape hyacinths now. Leave tulips and Dutch hyacinths in the refrigerator at 45 degrees until mid- to late December. The “pre-chilling” will fool them into thinking they’ve had a real winter.
• Pansies, pinks, and other cold-hardy annuals. They’re especially good in containers near entryways where they can add sparkle and still be portable should really cold weather roll in for a short period.
• It’s very late to be planting ryegrass from seed. If you have bare ground where erosion is a potential problem with rains the next several months, you might need to lay bermuda sod to help hold the soil. Lay it across the slope, not up and down it. Granted it’s risky to plant even bermudagrass this late, but it’s your best chance at slowing the flow of water over the ground. In a severe slope you could hold it in place with jute landscape netting that would deteriorate over a period of time.
PRUNE
• Erratic, unsightly, or dead branches from shrubs. Save major reshaping for later this winter.
• Remove rose bushes that you can tell are infected with rose rosette virus. Here is information I leave on my website to help you make that determination.
• Mow lawn to remove recently fallen leaves. Do not allow them to pack into a tight layer on top of the grass. That would trap moisture and warmth, both conducive to diseases.
FERTILIZE
• Pansies, pinks, ornamental cabbage and kale, and other sources of cool-season color each time that you water them. Apply a water-soluble or liquid, high-nitrogen fertilizer to encourage vigorous growth before the coldest winter weather.
• Winter grasses fescue and ryegrass with an all-nitrogen fertilizer containing upwards of half of that N in slow-release form. Fertilize now, then wait until mid-February to feed again. Water deeply after you feed.
• Houseplants monthly with diluted, high-nitrogen, water-soluble food at half the recommended rate. Do not encourage vigorous growth under the low-light conditions of winter.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Fire ant mounds have popped up wherever fall rains have fallen. Use one of the area-wide baits for long-term control and apply individual mound treatments for outbreaks near patios and walkways.
• Broadleafed weedkiller sprays (containing 2,4-D) should be applied soon to kill young clover, dandelion, henbit, and chickweed plants that are starting to grow. Once it turns colder in a few weeks they will not be as effective. You’ll have to wait until early spring, and by then the weeds will have become vigorous and unsightly.