We had our first icing and freeze warn the first weekend of November , and as a gardener living in South Carolina , I consider this pretty early for such intense coldness . I woke up one cockcrow and really had to genuflect the Robert Lee Frost off my wife ’s car . The next twenty-four hour period , flurries and amass snowfall covered my neighbourhood , break down a 130 - class - old meteorologic record and making internal headlines . Snow came to South Carolina before even our family and friends in much cold climates throughout the Midwest and Northeast experienced it . Because it was Halloween weekend , scary snowmen with carved jack - o’-lantern heads were rule haunting a couple front G !
The frigid weather condition mean that most of my summertime crops in the undercoat or in containers have officially stopped grow . Only a few mad apple and two Sun Gold cherry red love apple vines are still barely holding on . My peppers and former cuke planting were burnt by the cold and have died back along with the rest of my remaining temperate crops .
Garden Cleanup
As a front - yard gardener in an urban neighborhood , I need to keep my plot relatively tidy so as not to upset the neighbour on either side of me with manicured yards , the loads of walker traversing our pavement and the active householder colligate looking for infraction . To keep the Gunter Grass and yard lovers well-chosen , I make an honest effort to absent and compost old plantings before long after they die back .
Pulling dead plants , raking debris and tame the open soil in the garden are some of the most significant garden project for me this time of year . Removing sometime plants and turn the grime with a hoe or a tiller helps constitutional growers obviate winter nuisance worm by disturbing adults , larva or their eggs from their favored winter shelter , keeping unwanted insects like grownup stinkbugs or the cocoon of the notorious squash vine borer at bay . Your efforts in the later fall or wintertime will mean that next yr ’s crop may have fewer residual pests from the late grow season . Not only does the garden look better after an intensive cleanup , it also help do room for some extra later - declension and wintertime planting , which I keep meaning to engraft ( maybe next weekend ! ) .
Winterizing Work
winterize your outdoor spigot and hoses is another labor that you should start thinking about now . If you have a separate shut - off for your outdoor tap , go ahead and turn them off before winter arrives . Once the water is off , get to the valve to enfeeble any rest water , and get rid of all attach hoses . Drain the hoses , neatly coil them , and disconnect any nozzles or sprayer attachments . Hang your hoses and any attachments on the wall of a wry shed or cellar so that everything will be quick for next spring .
Read more of Garden In Front »
