row covers

Gardeners Wrap Up the Gardening Season

Maryland Grows1 Comment

Okay, gardeners. We can see the finish line. It’s been a busy gardening season, but we are almost ready to wrap things up for the year. Almost.

October and November are the wrap it up, clean it up months. Now’s the time to give the last of your withering vegetable plants the heave-ho.  

I know there is still one tomato out there, but it’s a brick. Let it go. Toss healthy plants on the compost pile and bag and trash the rest.  

Are you one of those garden daredevils who cheat the season with late plantings of cool weather crops? Good for you. Just be ready with frost protection such as floating row covers or a deep layer of straw.

vegetable plant with a row cover
Floating row covers extend the growing season. Photo: UME/HGIC

Cut back any perennials that had serious disease or insect problems, but leave the rest standing to provide food and shelter for birds and overwintering pollinators and beneficial insects.  

Mums have sensitive crowns – the part where the roots and stems meet– so treat them gently. After their fall show, leave them standing to increase their chances of coming back. Not all hardy mums are hardy. 

Use leaves as mulch around trees and shrubs and in your vegetable and flower beds. Use a fine layer on your lawn and toss the rest in your compost pile. 

Collect fallen branches to start a brush pile for wildlife. Put larger pieces on the bottom and smaller ones on the top to create cover and resting places for creatures great and small. 

Yes, you can still sneak in some bulbs. Remember to plant them three times as deep as they are wide. In other words, a 1-inch daffodil bulb goes into a 3-inch hole.  

You can plant trees and shrubs until the ground is frozen, too. Earlier is better to give roots a chance to get established. Just make sure you water them deeply every week. 

red leaves on a tree
There’s still time to plant trees such as this native black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) with brilliant fall color. Photo: T. David Sydnor, Bugwood

Here’s a fact sheet that tells you how to plant trees and shrubs and lists plants that are best planted in the spring. 

Also deep water any tree or shrub you planted earlier this year to send them into the winter well-hydrated. Water until we get a ground-penetrating frost, usually around Thanksgiving.   

Water any newly planted trees and shrubs to help them overwinter. Photo: M. Talabac, UME

Want a live Christmas tree? Save yourself some colorful language by digging the planting hole now before the ground freezes. Drop in a few unopened bags of mulch to avoid losing Bowser or any holiday guests in there. 

We’re almost to the cuddle up with cocoa season. Taking care of these few last-minute garden tasks will let us smile and sigh under the afghan, reveling in a job well done.  

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.

Salad Tables 2.0

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This is a good time of year for cleaning up tools, getting containers ready for starting plants, and maybe even building a Salad Table! The first University of Maryland salad tables were constructed at the Home & Garden Information Center in 2006. The idea for a waist-high raised container garden was based on a row of metal frames on legs I had seen at the edge of a woods at the Accokeek Foundation’s Ecosystem Farm. It was August and the shallow frames were filled with beautiful salad greens. I adapted the design to make it relatively easy and inexpensive to build.

The “University of Maryland Salad Table” carries a State of Maryland trademark for name recognition but was always intended to be an open-source gardening tool. It was popularized in a New York Times article by Anne Raver (a former UME master Gardener!), and by an appearance on the Martha Stewart Show. It has been built and used by gardeners of all ages and circumstances. Videos and building and growing instructions for Salad Tables and Salad Boxes are on the HGIC website. Continue reading →

Vegetable Crops to Plant Now

Maryland Grows7 Comments

Mid-September is a transition time for vegetable gardeners. You may be doing some garden clean-up, recording the successes and failures you were too busy to think about when they happened, and deciding how to manage the soil this fall and winter. We’re also slowly removing the warm season plants that are well-past their prime and wondering how to keep the fresh produce coming! It’s too late to plant peas (they rarely do well in the fall) or a late crop of broccoli or cabbage. So what to do with the open beds and spaces that won’t be planted in garlic, leeks, and shallots or cover crops?

There’s a long list of crops, mostly leafy greens, which you can plant now and harvest before and after frost arrives. And you can probably find seed packets for some crops in local garden centers, hardware stores, and food markets:

  • Leaf lettuce, spinach, radish
  • Broccoli raab (rapini), kales, collards, mustards, arugula
  • All sorts of Asian greens such as tatsoi, mizuna, mibuna, komatsuna, hon tsai tai, autumn poem, and Chinese broccoli
  • Turnips produce delicious fall greens. Some of the quicker maturing cultivars like ‘Hakurei,’ planted in early-mid September, will have enough time to make turnips before frost

Mixed fall greens in a Salad Box
Mixed fall greens in a Salad Box. Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME

Making it Work

Start by removing crop debris and raking the soil so that it’s relatively smooth. Spread an inch or so of compost or rake in 2 lbs. of cottonseed meal (6-2-1) or equivalent fertilizer per 100 sq. ft. of growing area. If you practice no-till techniques simply move mulch to the side and drag a garden tool, tool handle, or stick through the soil to make a shallow furrow. Wet the ground prior to planting if the soil is dry. Seeds will germinate quickly in warm, moist soil.

No-till planting- mulch is moved to the sides and a stick makes the furrow Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME
No-till planting- mulch is moved to the sides and a stick makes the furrow.
Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME

Fall gardening means shorter days, lower sun angle, and less intense sunlight so it helps to increase the recommended space between seeds. Cover the planted rows, beds, and containers with a floating row cover to reduce insect feeding, increase plant growth, protect against frost injury, and extend the harvest period. The cover can float on top of the crop or be draped over a frame. Secure the cover to the ground with rocks, pins, bricks, or boards. Consider using heavier floating row covers in October/November, and for overwintering crops, that give 5-10⁰ F. of frost protection. Type “floating row covers” into an online search to find a variety of sellers.

: #9 wire makes an excellent support for floating row covers Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME
#9 wire makes an excellent support for floating row covers.
Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME

Floating row covers protect fall crops at the Howard Co. Conservancy Community Garden Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME
Floating row covers protect fall crops at the Howard Co. Conservancy Community Garden.
Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME

Water regularly, thin plants if needed, and start harvesting leafy greens, either by breaking off outer leaves or cutting plants to the ground to re-grow. Kale, spinach, and arugula, will overwinter reliably with floating row cover protection in all but the coldest areas of Maryland (would love to hear from Western Maryland gardeners about their experiences). These crops will re-grow impressively in spring.

Overwintered spinach coming back to life in spring Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME
Overwintered spinach coming back to life in spring. Photo credit: Jon Traunfeld, UME

Don’t delay- the time is now! Taking advantage of longer, warmer fall weather for growing vegetable crops is a smart climate change adaption strategy.

By Jon Traunfeld, Extension Specialist