Seize Almost-Solstice
Late fall, from the first frost through the Winter Solstice at the end of December, offers a unique opportunity for gardeners wanting to improve their soil. The relative harsh conditions of the impending winter season guarantee that any organic matter we introduce now will break down in time for early spring.
spread compost everywhere.
Compost is rich in nutrients and improves soil conditions, seemingly no matter the growing challenges. While it’s true that some herbacious garden plants prefer poorer soils, they nonetheless benefit from a twice-yearly top dressing of compost.
(We’re lucky: we live close to a robust food and yard waste composting center, so it’s easy to pick some up or have it delivered.)
Each garden bed benefits from 1 to 2 inches of compost, leaving breathing room at the base of most plants. This is particularly beneficial for any plants installed this fall, as it can help insulate roots that are still establishing themselves in the soil.
Spreading compost lightly over any lawn area sequesters carbon, improves moisture retention throughout the next growing season, and is a less expensive and ecologically sound alternative to chemical lawn fertilizers.
save those leaves.
Leaves from deciduous trees (the trees that lose their leaves every fall) are a precious resource for building garden soil. Similar to compost, introducing shredded leaves as a mulch in fall slows daily freezing and thawing by insulating garden beds, improving moisture retention and drainage, and injects additional (and often needed) doses of vitamins and nutrients as they break down.
leave a bit more for the birds.
In a time of dwindling wild areas, we all have an obligation to consider what we can do for our neighbors. Birds and insects all would benefit from additional habitat. We can provide refuge to migratory birds by leaving seed pods and plant material, and our property can be a sanctuary for crucial garden insects that lay eggs and nestle into the nooks and crannies of any herbacious material.
One Cape Ann Gardens client is particularly wedded to this look because he enjoys the additional structure and evolution of herbaceous materials as fall and winter progresses. This might be a newer aesthetic for many gardeners who historically cut all herbacious perennials to the ground, remove and dispose of spent annuals, and remove all other detritus. If this is you, a great place to begin is leaving any and all hydrangea flowers on woody stems, leaving all grasses and sedums untouched until spring, and saving some of your leaves this fall in an overlooked or easily missed section of your garden to use in the spring.