Fall Preparations

We have had a lot of rain this Autumn, so Sunday's partly sunny day was a welcome change. Our Japanese Maple tree finally dropped most of it's leaves. With daylight savings time ending Sunday morning, the earlier daylight in the morning was also welcome. My son and I spent most of the morning, sweeping up leaves with the tractor and raking them from the planting beds nearest to the house. All other beds are left as is until Spring, with the leaves providing extra insulation for the perennials underneath as well an overwintering home for insects and small mammals.

The browns have temporarily taken over the greens in the compost bin.

Since the temperature on Sunday was above freezing, it was also a good day to protect our broadleaf evergreens from the unpredictable temperature swings of winter with a pine resin spray. I typically use Wilt-Pruf, but found that Bonide also carriers a similar product. Since we started using these winterizing products we haven't lost a single rhododendron over the winter. Not only do they survive, but they thrive the following season.

The active ingredient in both Wilt-Pruf and Wilt Stop is derived from the resin of pine trees

Now that most of the leaves are fallen, we can see in which trees the birds have been nesting.

The mud lining of this robin's nest is clearly visible

Most of the annual flowers have succumbed to the freezing temperatures, so it was a pleasure to see a few perennial flowers still in bloom.

Mid-Autumn blooming flowers

Another interesting observation is that on our walkway the moss growing between the bricks has become more lush than it has been all summer. It definitely prefers the cool temperatures and shorter days.

Moss is looking very healthy this time of year.

I know that it won't be long before snow blankets the ground, so I consider each day of green this time of year to be a blessing.