The long dark tea-time of the soil
Thoughts on garden clean up, visions for next year, and welcome to new subscribers
Sad fact: There are no new subscribers. I've been stuck at 42 for a month, which at first was really cool for this Douglas Adams nerd, but quickly became frustrating. We're approaching late autumn, and with the exception of the mums and a few bright, lingering leaves, there's little color outside. I'm already eagerly awaiting the garden catalogs so I can look at vibrantly colored veggies. I still take a few photos of the garden, but they look like this:
And this:
Cold weather is coming, which I don't mind, but after eight months of constant color and change, the four months of bland stasis between growing seasons can be a challenge for gardeners. The first killing frost of the season always leaves the garden a blackened mess. I understand the reasons for not tidying up the garden in the fall: Beneficial insect larvae overwintering in stems and litter are removed along with debris, as are seeds that nourish winter birds. The advice to postpone clean up must be moderated with rational thinking in order to avoid chaos, and an unmanageable workload in spring. In my garden, perennial flowers such as coneflower, mountain mint, cup plant, and agastache are left. It makes sense that these native plants offer the most to the wildlife that I want to preserve and support. Ornamentals and herbs likewise remain unmolested. Dead matter that remains can easily be removed in spring to make way for new growth; meanwhile they cover the soil and whatever arthropods and small vertebrates lurk underneath the foliage.
In the vegetable production areas I take a different tack. I'm not interested in saving whatever creatures have taken refuge in the stems of the tomatoes and squash, and leaving the enormous mass of vegetation would mean concentrating more work into spring. Pepper, tomato, eggplant, and squash remains all go straight to the compost pile. Prunings from berries go to a brush pile in the woods.
Other vegetative matter from dead plants is composted or allowed to remain, depending on my mood and energy level at the time. The sprawling necrotic nasturtium in the photo above will be left to keep soil covered and suppress weeds. While living, it formed a walkable mat over the path, which was appreciated since wood chips are now in short supply. This shortage has forced me to accept less pretty alternatives on paths like cardboard, pulled weeds, and grass clippings to prevent undesirables from taking root. Banana leaves have proven to serve this purpose well also.
Another fall chore is tree relocation: This season is best for transplanting the seedlings that inevitably come up in my beds, mostly oak and hackberry this year. Though survival rates are low, I try to move as many as possible to better locations such as the strip of land between our driveway and the neighbor's land. He seems to have declared war on trees in this narrow swath, so I'm tucking the oaks closer to our side. Who would attack a line of majestic oaks?
Of course, it’s uncertain whether my imagined string of mature oak trees will be manifested. Perhaps few will survive the move, and those that make it will be mauled by bucks or anthracnose. Regardless, the coming days full of grays and browns form the perfect backdrop for envisioning the future, not just the colorful flowers and veggies of next year's potager, but long term solutions like my oaks. As leaves fall and vegetation dies backs, the land itself becomes more visible, making fall and winter perfect for observing nature's solutions and imagining how to emulate them.
Perhaps this year more landowners will be inspired by Doug Tallamy, and envision an ecosystem superstar like Quercus alba in their landscaping. Maybe even my neighbor will someday imagine such a tree in the vast tract of open land that forms his front yard. One of the best ways to promote gardening for wildlife habitat and ecosystem restoration is to set beautiful examples. This is especially true for those of us with highly visible properties. This category doesn't include me, but if I can influence my immediate neighbors with native planting and rewilding efforts, I will count that as a victory.
Since I began writing this post, I've acquired two new subscribers, so the information above is already out of date. Welcome new subscribers!
As someone who has toiled at blogging for two decades, I know that subscribers and readers can be hard to come by. At some point I just write for myself and if people come and read, they come and read. I enjoy your posts! I need to do some cleanup this fall because I neglected to stay on top of things in the summer. Normally I leave a lot to wait until spring but will do more cleanup than usual this year.