LuceStellare

The Everyday Gardener

Mid-October in central Massachusetts and the days are fairly mild. A few light frosts have occurred by now, but most important, steady all day or night rains have returned! A bizarre weather front moved through the area on October 8 knocking down a cherry tree in the yard. The storm lasted maybe fifteen minutes with gusts of wind at 50+ mph and almost horizontal large hail. A glance out the window around 5:30 p.m. and I saw the tree on the ground. The peach tree survived with only a few nicks caused by the falling tree. I thought the low bush blueberries were smashed, but, once cleared, are doing just fine. UGH! A day later and a few hundred dollars provided a cleanup of everything except the big root. Looks like the cherry is shallow-rooted and after three months of drought, was vulnerable to the storm.

Sunday was bright and sunny giving time to planting native seeds which will hopefully bloom next spring. This bed used to have Cranesbill as the dominant planting. It has been moved to another section of the garden to make way for a pollinator-friendly bed. The soil was churned up, all unwanted plantings removed and clean compost amended the garden plot.

Seeds planted here include:

Cohosh (homegrown seeds)
Purple Coneflower (homegrown seeds)
Queen Ann’s Lace (homegrown seeds)
Wood Betony
Comfrey
Borage
Eastern Shooting Star

I am pleased to say some of the seeds planted were cultivated right in my yard. The garden bed gets good sun most of the year with partial shade by late afternoon. I lightly covered the seeds with soil, put over a light layer of chopped straw. On top of that is a piece of burlap and finally leaves. Why? Cats. My cats think everything belongs to them and without some protection, they will use the bed as a litter box.

Here is Stella lounging over the spot where I planted some spring crocus and tulip bulbs.

This second bed was prepared as the other and includes:

Bunchberry
Smalls Beardstongue
Wild Strawberry
Sweet Woodruff

I found some common yarrow growing locally out in a big field nearby and have harvested clusters for planting here. The same field also provided wild strawberry which did fairly well as they were transplanted in June.

The last seed planting Sunday was butterfly milkweed. They prefer dry soil with full sun so they are given the preferred conditions. The colored sand marks their location.

Links

Wild Seed Project Maine

Native Plants – Foraging

Oh, Happy Day! While on a walk around an athletic field, what’s blooming mid-October? Yarrow and black-eyed Susan. There’s an abundance of common yarrow growing in a full sun, dry soil part of the field. This is one hardy plant! We’ve had a dry spell since June and this little plant is telling me it is a survivor. The black-eyed Susan’s are quite small but, they also made it through a tough summer. Since there was an abundance, I harvested a few for transplanting in my home garden. The weather is mild enough for the yarrow to allow them to take root and dig in for the winter ahead.

And, the wonder of wonders happened yesterday when I looked at the overgrown wild hillside. There were several open pods with white seed tendrils ready for the wind to catch. But, there are a few closed pods on the brink of bursting open. So, a happy hour passed with harvesting a few pods to take home and with gratitude, open the pods to release the seeds into my garden with the hopes for next year’s germination.

Given such a bounty, it may be best to consult the experts at Monarch Watch on how best to harvest, store, and plant in the spring. Pots of gold come in all different shapes and sizes.

Thank the maker!

Planting a Pollinator Garden

October in central Massachusetts can be a weather roller coaster. The morning mist from the Quaboag River will hang over the yard until lunchtime. The sun warms up the south side, bringing much appreciated solar drying power to the laundry. How quickly the sunlight falls late afternoon. By dinnertime, it’s quiet of birdsong. Even the crickets are already in bed! Despite the thermometer’s theatrics, the urge to garden has come on with intensity. So now, the goal is to establish a pollinator garden bed for planting in springtime. The elements will be our friend and create the space for insects to find the foods they need to thrive and grow.

Here’s the area to be cleared. It’s filled with sea oats, phlox, and a yucca. Every year, I knock down the tall plants and pile them on the compost heap. The sea oats are an unusual plant, but only ornamental. Insects and birds leave them alone. The phlox does get pollinators on it. But, there’s a larger patch nearby so the loss is not permanent. The yucca is a pest that only spreads itself around taking up a lot of space. It’s another ornamental that looks out of place in the landscape.

The first task is to clear out the plants, chopping them down close to the ground. I used the cut-down vegetation as a base for under the cardboard that will be the overlay for creating a new layer of soil. The goal is to smother what is under it and build an area for seed planting in the spring.

The cardboard will hopefully provide a compostable barrier between the soil as it is and how it will be. The soil layers will consist of peat moss, chopped straw, composted cow manure, and some raised bed soil mix. On top of these are a thick layer of horse manure, and leaves. The plan is to let the winter season start the decay process of building a new area for planting. No seeds will be planted at this time. The entire patch needs to blend and start to compost. The horse manure needs at least a month to decay so I’ll let old man winter do the work.

The latest reading I’ve done around creating a pollinator-friendly yard is to not rake leaves. I normally use the mower to shred the leaves and let them stay in the soil overwinter as a poor man’s mulch. Hmm, this will be a switch of habit to not mow, but rake and store. That will be a challenge as the wind loves to blow the leaves everywhere. I may layover burlap to keep the bed contained. This barrier may also dissuade my cats from visiting the area. Those pesky felines already visited the new soil and probably used it as a kitty litter box, How to keep them out is a wonder.

The cost went into some of the soil building. The cardboard and horse manure are free. It took only a few hours to set up this space as it is. The real fun will be in figuring out which seed blend to order. Some seeds need that wintertime to sprout in springtime. If so, I’ll put them in a bad and leave out in the sun porch to experience freezing and thawing. The goal is to seed when the sap moves in March 2021.