Author: Henry Homeyer

Take time to sit and enjoy your garden

On Nov. 8, 1998, my first gardening column appeared in my hometown paper, The Valley News of West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Since then I have written more than 1,200 weekly columns and answered countless questions from readers. I am 77 years old and plan to slow down a bit — I’ll be writing just one column per month this winter, and perhaps two a month after that. We’ll see.

I’ve learned a lot during that time, interviewed plenty of interesting gardeners, and visited (and written about) great gardens in New England and further afield. Thank you, dear readers, for sending me suggestions, asking questions and generally keeping me on my toes. Early on I wrote about digging in the dirt and got an irate email from a reader: “It’s not dirt,” she wrote. “It’s soil. It’s what makes a garden work well. Dirt is what you sweep up.” Later, during an election campaign, another reader told me to shut up about politics and write about what I know, gardening. As I said, you have kept me in line all these years.

My favorite interview was with Ray Magliozzi of public radio’s Car Talk. He lives in a suburb of Boston and has a simple but elegant garden of rhododendrons, roses, dahlias and a tropical called Datura or Angel’s Trumpet. He has the same quirky sense of humor and boisterous laugh in the garden that he has on the radio. I asked him if there was a common thread between gardening and working on cars. Quickly he answered with a full belly laugh: “Dirt. But garden dirt washes off more easily. The reason I love gardening is that I love getting my hands dirty. When we fix cars, it’s not all science. There’s an art to it, too.”

Who else? The White House Gardener, Dale Haney. Tasha Tudor, the reclusive artist and gardener living in southern Vermont. Jean and Weston Cate, octogenarians who introduced me to the Seed Savers Exchange and the Boston Marrow Squash, a winter squash that they told me was the most popular squash grown in America in the 1850s — and still grown by them. And I interviewed and became friends with Sydney Eddison, a fabulous garden writer who when I called her recently had just come in from re-building a stone wall, even though she is now in her 90s. Gardeners do seem to last a long time.

I love the letters and emails of you readers and wish I had saved them all. Here’s part of one that I got recently that might interest you: What to do about the dreaded Asian jumping worm? “I sprinkled the tea seed meal (using my hand fertilizer spreader) and within a week (after a light rainfall which surely helped the process) the worms came to the surface (ick) and died. It would be lovely if they just stayed in the ground, but it was also gratifying to see that the tea seed meal actually worked! I have been told that they lay eggs this time of year so I will begin the process anew next spring.” This reader told me that she bought it at her local feed-and-grain store. She used 50 pounds for her lawn and gardens — about half an acre. The worms die in winter and hatch in early summer, so I may try it as soon as I see them next summer. That said, I must warn you that even though this is a natural, organic product, it can have negative effects on fish and amphibians. Do your research, and I will, too. To be continued.

What else have I learned as part of my experience writing a column? Although I had been a gardener since I was a toddler and learned how to grow veggies and flowers from my Grampy, I took classes to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. I went to Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont, and took classes, including a great one about all the trees and shrubs that do well in our climatic zone. I already knew all the native trees that grow in Connecticut (where I grew up), but few shrubs and virtually no unusual decorative trees.

I took the Master Gardener course in New Hampshire, and that taught me lots of technical details about things like lawn care, insects and diseases, and lots more that I had never focused on. I drove 60 miles each way for 10 weeks to Concord, New Hampshire, where I spent half a day taking classes. And I committed to helping teach others in my community, which I have been doing ever since. And it helped expand my knowledge for the column. I continue to take seminars given by experts whenever I can.

Writing a column also gave me a great excuse to buy plants. I needed to know, for example, if Toadlily or Himalayan blue poppy would do well here, and what they needed to succeed. I learned to buy perennials in groups of three or five — to make a bold statement, or to try in various locations.

I needed to learn how to design a beautiful landscape with flowers, trees and shrubs. All that was part of my education. I now grow about 200 kinds of flowers and nearly 100 kinds of trees and shrubs. I’ve written about the ones that thrived — and the ones I’ve killed.

Eventually I learned not to buy plants unless I already have a place in mind where I might plant them. OK, I fib a little there. I am a sucker for beautiful flowers in bloom, and will buy them — and make a place for them somewhere!

What is my advice to you after all these years? Never get discouraged or give up. But also don’t bite off too much work. Start small and increase your gardens, one bed at a time. Stay true to using organic practices: Chemicals disrupt the natural balance of nature. Make a long-term plan for your garden if you can. Establish sight lines and pathways, and create small “rooms” in the garden. Plant trees early on — they take the longest to reach maturity. And when you reach my age, those trees can be magnificent. I planted several in 1972 that please me every time I think about them. Lastly, take time to sit down and enjoy your garden. You deserve to do so every day of the year.

I’d love to hear from you, dear reader. Is there an article that you remember best, or one you clipped and still refer to? I’m at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. Thanks!

Featured photo: Branch collar to left of line drawn shows where to prune a branch. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Free the trunk flare!

For many of us November is a drab and dreary month: days are short, gray skies the norm. Flowers are largely gone, the soil is soggy and a drizzle or a downpour is common. Soon snow will not be unusual — we’ve already seen a wintry mix. But there are things you can do when the sun comes out — or with rain gear on.

If you planted trees in the past few years, you should look at them carefully. Most planting tags on purchased trees tell you to plant them at the depth they are in the pot. Unfortunately, many trees are grown on huge farms and slapped into pots without regard to the “trunk flare” — that part of the tree that should be above ground.

Look at a mature tree planted by mother nature — or a squirrel. You will see that the base of the tree widens out, and often roots are seen snaking across the soil near the tree for a while before diving down to seek nutrients and moisture. When planting a tree it is essential that the trunk flare be above ground. If it’s not, soil fungi will rot the bark and eventually kill the cambium layer below it. This will kill the tree in six to 10 years. Even if the bark looks flaky and damaged, it probably will recover if you take action now.

If the tree you planted comes straight out of the ground like a telephone pole, or if there is mulch piled up against the tree, you must remove the material that will cause problems.

Mulch is easy to fix. Take your hand and pull it back, creating a doughnut hole for the trunk, at least 4 inches all around. Mulch has its place; it will keep down weeds and help prevent the soil from drying out in times of drought. But more than 4 inches of mulch can also prevent light rains from reaching the roots. Don’t overdo it. No mulch volcanoes. I’ve been seen removing mulch from trees in public spaces!

If there is soil over the trunk flare, use a hand tool to loosen the soil and pull it back, too. You may find little roots there, but cut them off. Re-grade the area for a foot or more around the tree in all directions. For a larger tree that was sold in a burlap wrapping, it is not uncommon to find 3 to 6 inches of soil over the trunk flare. The burlap wrapping — now often made of plastic materials — should have been removed at planting time. If not, your tree is doomed. Plastic wrapping will never degrade, so you need to dig up the tree and remove it now. Burlap will degrade in time, but often not for years.

What else is there to do in the garden now? This is a good time to move shrubs or small trees that are not doing well where they are. Roots do most of their growth between the time leaves drop and the time the ground freezes, which makes this a good time for moving them. Cool temperatures and rainy days help plants you move now, too.

I was visiting long-time friends in Ohio recently, and they had three fothergilla shrubs that had been in the ground five years and done almost nothing. I took a garden fork, thrust it into the soil nearby and tipped it back. Out popped the root ball, as if it had been planted the day before. I picked it up and took a look. Clearly the shrub had been in a one-gallon pot for a long time before they planted it. The roots had grown around and around the pot, keeping them from extending out into neighboring soil for moisture and minerals.

After soaking the root ball in a pail of water, I used my fingers, a small folding saw and a CobraHead weeder to tease the roots apart. I broke or cut some, but it didn’t matter. The shrubs were doomed unless I could get the roots pointed out and away from the tangled mess they’d been in. I replanted them in places with more sunshine and less competition from big perennials in beds where they should grow and be happy. It may take a year or two before they really start to thrive.

It’s tough to know just where to plant a tree or shrub for optimal growth. I like to observe the same species in another garden or ask a friend if they’ve had luck with the same species. The internet can help if you consult a university or arboretum website. I like books, too, especially any written by Michael Dirr. He seems to know more than anyone else. So do your homework, and think about moving any unhappy woody plants.

By the way, it’s not too late to plant spring bulbs, garlic or bulbs for forcing in pots. I particularly like forcing spring bulbs (daffodils, tulips, crocus and more) by potting them up now and keeping them in a cold place where they won’t freeze. Then in February and March I bring them into the warmth of the house, and they bloom early. I pot up enough to give some away to ailing or aged friends.

This is a good time to dig out invasive shrubs like burning bush or barberry that have been planted by birds. Their distinctive leaf color will help you find them now in your woods.

On the next to last day of October this year I plugged in my blue “fairy lights” in my Merrill magnolia and a nice pear tree. It was a gloomy, wet day, and the blue lights looked great against the yellow leaves. Some people call these Christmas or holiday lights, but I consider them just a cheerful boost to my spirits when gardening is nearly done and weather keeps me from doing my final chores.

Henry is a UNH Master Gardener, a regular speaker at garden clubs and libraries, and the author of four gardening books. Reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo: Branch collar to left of line drawn shows where to prune a branch. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

A few bold cuts can transform a tree or shrub

I asked an experienced arborist the other day what he thought about pruning apple trees in the fall. His answer was the same as mine: “Prune when you have time and the pruners in your hand.” Yes, March is a good time to prune, but I suspect that farmers started the tradition of pruning their orchards then because it was too early to plow or plant, and they were suffering from cabin fever. Over the years, I have pruned most sorts of trees in the fall, winter, spring and summer — and seen no adverse effects. I particularly like to prune in the fall after leaf drop, as one can see clearly the shape of the shrub or tree.

Plants that bloom early in spring or summer have already formed buds for next year. Early bloomers include fruit trees, forsythia, lilac, magnolia, fothergilla, viburnums, rhododendrons, azaleas and many more. Right now you can see big fat buds on most of those, just waiting for spring and the right time to bloom. I say losing a few blossoms to pruning is no big deal: You will have a more beautiful tree to look at all winter, and a healthier tree next year.

Hardwood trees like maples, beech, oak, magnolia and linden can be pruned now. Maples and birch should not be pruned in the spring because they will bleed ferociously. Roses I usually prune in the spring, after I see how much the winter has killed off, if anything. Evergreens like pine and hemlock I usually prune right after the new growth has occurred in summer — that helps keep their growth in check.

Every tree or shrub is pre-programmed to be a certain size and shape. It’s in its DNA. You can influence how it will grow, but it will almost always persist and be what it is programmed to be. It’s very tough to keep a hemlock or pine small, for example. But you can remove lower branches so the mower can get under a tall tree, or make space for chairs in the shade.

My late sister Ruth Anne loved to prune. Her approach to pruning was to start by sitting on the ground and looking up through the branches. First, she looked for branches that filled up space but added little to the overall beauty and structure of the plant. If a tree is too crowded with branches, the interior is a mess and many leaves do not benefit from the sun.

Trees and shrubs look best, and perform best, when they have strong branches that will stand up to ice or snow loads. Ask yourself this question when considering removing a branch, “What will this look like in five years? In 10?” The answer guides me. I like to say that a bird should be able to fly through a well-pruned apple tree without getting hurt.

Don’t be a timid pruner. A few bold cuts (removing large stems) can transform a tree in just a few minutes. Nibbling away at the edges, taking off pencil-thick branches, is slow, tedious work.

How much wood can you remove in a single season? The old rule of thumb was a third of the leaf-producing branches. Now experts advise just 20 to 25 percent. Remember, the leaves are the engine of the tree. They produce the sugars that feed the roots, allow growth and produce the fruit. If you pile up cut branches near the tree you are working on, it will be easier to see when you have taken enough.

You should always remove all dead branches. Dead branches have dry, flaky bark. If you rub the bark of a small branch, you should see a green layer. Dead branches don’t count when you are calculating how many branches you can remove.

Where should you make your cuts? At the origin of the branch, either on a bigger branch, on the trunk, or at ground level. Don’t cut off a branch flush to the trunk as it will open up a big wound. Instead, look at the branch and see where the “branch collar” is, and cut just beyond it. The collar is the slightly swollen area at the base of a branch, and its bark is often wrinkled.

Here are the cuts I make when pruning a tree, in the order I take them out: (1) dead wood, (2) damaged or cracked limbs, (3) crossing or rubbing branches, (4) branches that are growing toward others or toward the center of the tree. (5) branches that are paralleling others and close to them (I remove the weaker of the two).

Removing a big branch is tricky: The weight can force the branch to break before you cut all the way through, allowing it to fall and tear the bark of the trunk. Make your first cut 18 inches from the trunk and on the underside of the branch. Then go a little farther out the branch and make a top cut. If the heavy branch starts to drop, the undercut will keep the branch from tearing the bark. Then make a through cut at the branch collar.

Buy good tools and keep them clean, dry and sharp. Don’t try to prune a tree that is so big you need a chainsaw. Leave that for the professionals. But shrubs? Anybody can work on them and make them look better. Think of pruning as creating sculpture. I do, and the frustrated artist inside me feels great when I have transformed a scraggly shrub into a thing of beauty. Go for it!

Henry has been living and gardening in Cornish, New Hampshire, for 53 years. He is the author of four gardening books. You may reach him at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo: Branch collar to left of line drawn shows where to prune a branch. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Try tulips, snowdrops and somewhat squirrel-proof daffodils

I’ve been planting bulbs around my property for at least 40 years, and some of them are still flowering each spring. I even have daffodils I brought up from my childhood home in Connecticut that might be 70 years old or more. Others run out of energy and disappear with time. If you haven’t done so yet, now is the time to get some and plant them.

First, let’s look at the basics: What makes a bulb plant survive and flourish? Decent soil. It must be well-drained. Soggy soil rots bulbs. If you have a heavy clay soil, it will stay wet and is not a good place for bulbs unless you add plenty of compost to the planting hole to help it drain better. Planting on a hillside helps, too, as water will drain off a hillside.

That said, there are a few bulbs that do fine in moist soil. Camassia is a lesser-known bulb plant that blooms in late spring with blue, purple or white star-shaped blossoms arranged on a central stem. Some are 2 to 3 feet tall or more. In the Northwest some grow in moist meadows or along the edges of woodlands. I’ve grown them and found a planting lasts about five years. There is one daffodil that does well in moist soil: thalia. It is very late, white and a bit frilly.

Bulb flowers take shade better than sun-loving perennials. Growing up we had hundreds of daffodils that bloomed along a woodland path behind the house. The leaves got sunshine and re-charged the bulbs before the trees were fully leafed out. Of course if you have plenty of sunshine, all the better.

Some people have had great luck planting daffodils in a grassy field or lawn. I’ve done that, but find that the bulb foliage is still green and producing food for the bulb when the lawn needs to be cut. If you cut the foliage too early, your bulbs won’t perform as well. I like to plant daffodils in flower beds between big clumps of hostas. They can bloom early, and then their dying foliage is hidden by the hosta leaves.

Some gardeners dig a little hole for each bulb, but that seems like too much work for me, even if you have one of those tools that are made for digging small round holes. I’d rather use my shovel to dig one oversized hole big enough for the 25 bulbs or more. For large bulbs like daffodils or tulips a hole 24 to 36 inches long and 18 to 24 inches wide is fine for 25 bulbs.

For the big bulbs I dig a hole 6 to 8 inches deep. Then I add compost and some organic fertilizer or “bulb booster” fertilizer and stir it into the bottom of the hole. I place the bulbs on the improved soil, pointy end up, and cover with more improved soil.

What about those hungry, bulb-stealing squirrels? They don’t eat daffodils as they are vaguely poisonous. They may dig a few up to see what you planted, but they won’t eat them. “Yech,” they say, if they inadvertently take a bite.

When I interviewed the White House gardener in 1999 he said they planted thousands of tulips each year, despite the rampant gray squirrels. He said they planted the tulips and covered them with soil, then put down a layer of chicken wire, then more soil. Oh, and he said they fed the squirrels all winter with cracked corn. Squirrels that are not hungry are less likely to try to steal your bulbs.

Some people have great luck with tulips coming back, but I consider them annuals. In general I find that the second year only half the tulips come back to bloom, the third year only half of those come back and so on. But I often plant 100 tulips, all one color for a blast of color in spring. I particularly like the tall ones that bloom a bit later.

‘Maureen’ is one of my favorite tulips. She is a 28-inch-tall tulip, a creamy white that blooms in May. ‘Menton’ blooms at the same time and is rose-pink with apricot-pink petal edges and is 26 inches tall. Wow. They make a nice mix.

If you consider your tulips annuals, you can plant them in your vegetable garden and pull them after blooming. Then you can plant tomatoes or something else there. I plant them close together, and they do fine. And if you have a deer problem, you can easily fence a small plot for 100 tulips with four poles and some bird netting.

The little bulbs are great early harbingers of spring, particularly snowdrops. Snowdrops are small white globes on 4-inch stems. Mine fight through frozen soil in early March. Some years (when we have deep snow) I shovel snow off the hillside where they appear so they can bloom on schedule. Each year I have more, so now, after decades, I have many hundreds.

Other early bloomers include winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), a small upward-looking six-petaled brilliant yellow flower. Another favorite of mine is glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae). This is a nice blue with a yellow eye. It blooms shortly after the snowdrops in April.

Henry lives in Cornish Flat, NH. He is the author of four gardening books and is a UNH Master Gardener. His email is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo: Plant all bulbs pointy end up. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

It’s the easiest vegetable — and tasty too

By Henry Homeyer
listings@hippopress.com

If you lean toward lazy (or have kids, dogs and a job), growing garlic may be just the ticket. It is the easiest of all vegetables to grow. Once planted and mulched, it requires little or no work until harvest. A good harvest is guaranteed if you follow my instructions. Even with all the strange weather we’ve seen, I’ve never had a bad crop in the past 25 years or so of growing garlic.

Now is the time to buy garlic for planting — unless you have some from your own garden saved for that purpose, as I do. You’ll want to get your garlic planted a month before the ground freezes, so depending on where you live, you may want to plant some soon. Garlic needs to establish roots now and is not generally planted in the spring.

There are two categories of garlic: hard neck and soft neck. Both will grow in New England, but hard neck is the type grown by most farmers and is the most cold-hardy. It produces a stiff scape or stem each summer that is edible. Soft neck garlic generally comes from California and is good in the kitchen; it is also the type braided and hung from the ceiling in Italian restaurants as decoration. Hard neck garlic generally has more flavor; a wide variety of flavors is possible, depending on the type you grow.

Garlic does best in rich soil that drains well. If you have a heavy clay soil (soil that is sticky when wet), you will need to add plenty of compost to your soil. Adding sand will not help, as sand added to heavy clay produces something like concrete that hardens up in dry times.

If you have poor soil, you may want to build a wood-sided raised bed and add plenty of compost and topsoil that you purchase in bulk or in bags. I find Moo-Doo brand composted cow manure and topsoil are good soil additives that are sold in bags in many garden centers. A 50-50 mix of your soil (or purchased topsoil) and compost should work well.

When making a wood-sided bed, I don’t recommend treated lumber. Even though most treated lumber is safe to handle and much less toxic than 20 years ago, I don’t want any chemicals leaching into my soil. I use rough-sawn lumber from a local sawmill, preferably hemlock. It generally lasts about 10 years. Eight-inch-wide planks are wide enough to make a nice box.
Plain pine boards will work, too, and metal corners are readily available at garden centers or from catalogs like Gardener’s Supply and Lee Valley Tools. The corners make constructing a garden box easy even for non-carpenters. All you need is a cordless drill to drive the screws. Carrots and other root crops do well in garden boxes, so you can alternate them with garlic in subsequent years if you build two or more boxes.

I generally use my own garlic for planting, as it has adapted to my soil and climate over the years. But if I see big, fat bulbs of garlic at a farmers market, I sometimes buy some. I don’t recommend buying garlic for planting at the grocery store as most has been treated to prevent it from germinating and so it will last longer.

Where can you get garlic for planting? If there is none at your local farmers market, you can get organic garlic from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine (877-564-6697 or www.johnnyseeds.com). But don’t wait too long — they sell out most years.
Once the soil is loose and weed-free, I plant. I take a CobraHead weeder, a nice single-tined weeder, and make furrows in the soil of my raised bed. I keep the furrows about 8 inches apart. I sprinkle some organic bagged fertilizer into each row and stir it in.

I break the garlic bulbs apart, separating the cloves — there are usually five to 10 cloves per head. I push the cloves into the loose soil, pointy end up, about 3 inches deep and 4 inches apart. I cover with soil and then pat it gently.
The last step is key if you want a weed-free garlic bed: Put a foot of fluffy mulch hay or straw over the planted garlic. The straw will pack down over the winter and make a nice mulch that will keep most weeds from growing, but the garlic will push through it. It will be ready to harvest next July.
Depending on when you plant, the soil temperature, and when real cold weather comes, your garlic may send up a few green shoots this fall. Don’t panic! It won’t hurt your garlic. When cold weather comes, it will go dormant and do just fine next spring.

I believe that garlic is a healthy and tasty addition to my diet. It may even be medicinal — it has been used that way for centuries.
And this winter if you chew on a clove of garlic before going to the store, you’ll never get a cold — because people will stand back from you in line!

Henry lives in Cornish Flat, NH. He is the author of four gardening books and is a UNH Master Gardener. His email is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo: Place your garlic cloves on the soil to establish spacing before planting. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Cut, pull, label, rake

To me, this felt like the summer that never was. It was rarely hot and sunny. The rainy gray days felt more like those in Portland, Oregon, than in New England. Even so, the summer we had is largely over and it’s time to clean it up and get ready for winter. Let’s take a look at what we need to do.

It’s time to start cutting back flowers that are no longer blooming. I like using a small serrated “harvest sickle” for the job instead of hand pruners. It’s available from www.oescoinc.com for about $8. I grab a handful of stems and slice through them with the tool, getting several stems at once. Of course you could use an old steak knife instead. I leave stems bearing seed heads that the finches, cardinals and other seed-eaters might munch on this winter. Wear gloves when you use the tool — it is very sharp!

I am conscious of erosion when removing plants in the fall. I think it’s better to cut off the stems of big zinnias, for example, than to yank them now. That way I am not opening up the soil, making it vulnerable to erosion or providing a nice resting spot for airborne weed seeds. Many weed seeds are tiny and can blow in from your next-door neighbor’s garden. I can always dig out roots in the spring when I plant something else, and they may decay and add some organic matter to the soil in the meantime.

Once you have cut back and cleaned up the garden a bit, you should pull all the weeds. I know this can be a tedious chore, it’s better done now than in the spring. Weeds in spring will start growing long before you start planting — and before the soil is dry enough for you to work it.

Weeding is easiest to do when the soil is moist. If you have big, deep-rooted weeds like burdock, you should use a garden fork to loosen the soil. Plunge the fork into the soil and tip it back, loosening the soil. Do that in a few places for a big weed. Then pull s-l-o-w-l-y. A quick yank will break off roots that will survive and grow next summer. Any weed that is loaded with seeds should go in a separate compost pile; otherwise the seeds could come back to haunt you, even years later. For smaller weeds, I like my CobraHead weeder.

And here’s a little-mentioned fall task: getting rid of the flowers that have not done well in the past few years. That’s right, not everybody gets to ride the bus. This is a good time to say to plants that have not performed, “You’re off the bus. Go live in the compost pile.” A plant that is too aggressive — or one that just won’t bloom — should be exiled. Next spring, that gives you license to buy something nice — you have a gap to fill in the perennial border.

What else? Place labels in the back right corner of any clump of flowers that is relatively new. By spring you may have forgotten what it is. I like those narrow white plastic labels. Not to look at, but to do a job. I use a No. 2 pencil or a special crayon to write the name, and then I push the label deep into the soil so that only a smidge is showing. If I can’t come up with a name, I know where to look. Back right corner.

Outdoor flower pots need to be emptied, cleaned and put away after frost. Don’t wait until December to do this — if a pot full of wet soil freezes, it will crack. You may as well clean out the pots now rather than in the spring. And save all that potting soil. You can invigorate it in the spring by adding compost and some organic fertilizer. So fill up a trash can or a few buckets with that potting soil and re-use it.

The vegetable garden needs to be weeded, and preferably mulched with chopped up fall leaves. If, like me, you make mounded wide beds, re-shape the beds now by hoeing up some soil from the walkways. Pull dead plants and get rid of them.

If you have an asparagus patch, look to see if your plants are loaded with those little red “berries,” their seeds. If you see seeds, cut down the stems right now. Some of those seeds will settle in and start more asparagus plants — and they will fight for moisture and minerals just as weeds do.

If you have old maple trees, think about giving them some ground limestone or agricultural lime this fall. Acid rain dissolves and washes away the calcium they need. Adding some lime will increase the vigor of your trees. And remember that soil compaction is bad for tree roots. Don’t park your car near a tree you love. Sprinkling a little compost over the soil will loosen it up as earthworms move it down and microorganisms break it down. Roots go far from the trunk of trees — much farther than the “dripline” of the branches.

My last task is always to rake the leaves. I chop mine in a chipper-shredder, but you can also run over them with a lawnmower. Leaves are full of good nutrients for plants, and are much loved by night crawlers and microorganisms. Rake the leaves onto a tarp and drag them away — that’s much more efficient than packing them into a wheelbarrow. Once it has rained, the leaves will settle in and make your plants feel cozy and loved.

Reach Henry at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by email at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He is the author of four gardening books.

Featured photo: This harvest sickle is great for cutting back stems of flowers. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Migrating monarchs need their carbs

Despite my best efforts to support monarch butterflies, this year was discouraging: I only saw two monarchs visit my gardens. I have a small bed just for milkweeds, both the common one and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). But no monarchs laid eggs there this summer, no larvae ate the leaves, and I saw no butterflies sampling the nectar.

I know the importance of food for migrating monarchs at this time of year. They need to fill up on carbohydrates, fats and protein before flying long distances. That holds true for birds, too. Right now I have plenty of flowers blooming for monarchs and other pollinators, and seed heads waiting for the birds. I’m a bit discouraged, too, by the lower numbers of birds I am seeing. Let’s take a look at some of my fall favorites that migrating creatures could be feasting on.

According to Dave Tallamy, the guru of native plants for pollinators, the No. 1 plant we should all have is goldenrod — and we probably all do. There are dozens of species of native goldenrod, all popular with bees, moths and butterflies. Many gardeners pull them out when they show up uninvited. A few species spread by root and can take over a flower bed — but others are clump-forming. Even if you don’t want them in your beds, think about leaving them at the edges of your fields or woods.

Of those species easily found for sale in garden centers, the best is Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks.’ This plant is 3 to 5 feet tall and stays in an ever-expanding clump in full sun or part shade, but does not take over. Its blossoms last a long time, the stems curving gently outward, like fireworks. And no, goldenrod does not cause hay fever — that is ragweed, which blooms at the same time.

Less common is blue-stemmed or wreath goldenrod (Solidago caesia). I bought a plant 20 years ago and it is blooming now in dry shade. It really has not expanded its reach very much. It grows just 1 to 3 feet tall but usually is about 18 inches for me. It has delicate flowers that help light up a dark spot.

New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) is a tall native plant in the aster family with purple blossoms. It is still blooming for me, a month after starting to bloom. It does this by producing lots of buds which open sequentially — so it is not always a dramatic flower in a vase. But the bees love it. It is happiest in full sun in moist soil, but there it got too big for me, so I moved mine to dry soil with only morning sun. Now it is more manageable, but still a big plant. I’ve read that if you cut it back to the ground when it is 2 feet tall, it will stay smaller — but I never remember to do so. Sigh.

Speaking of asters, there are many native species, all good for pollinators and loved especially by monarch butterflies. This year the woodland asters are quite dramatic. They are a pale lavender and grow in shady places. Elsewhere a taller wild cousin stands 4 to 6 feet tall with deep purple or pink flowers. These grow in full sun and are often seen by the roadside at this time of year. Asters of all sorts are readily available at garden centers. Ask for native ones, not fancy hybrids.

Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpurea) is another tall plant in the aster family. It can get huge — over 6 feet tall if grown in rich, moist soil. A named cultivar called ‘Gateway’ has longer-lasting flowers and richer colors than the wild ones, though those are nice, too. Smaller varieties such as Little Joe, Baby Joe and Phantom are nice, and better suited for smaller gardens. I haven’t grown them but see they are sold as being 3 to 4 feet tall. Monarchs and other pollinators love them. All appreciate soil that does not dry out.

One tall annual that monarchs love is Brazilian verbena (Verbena bonariensis). It grows tall stalks that are remarkably tough — they grow 4 or 5 feet tall but rarely need staking. Its flowers are in small clusters. It often drops seeds which send up new plants the following year.

Lastly for pollinators, I have to recommend fall crocus, which is not a crocus at all but a Colchicum. This is a bulb plant that flowers on a 6-inch stem (actually the throat of the blossom) in pink, white or lavender. It sends up foliage in the spring that dies back, then each bulb sends up a cluster of blossoms in September or even earlier. They do best in full sun and rich soil, but do fine with some shade. They like to be fertilized each year. I often see small bees and wasps buzzing around in the blossoms.

I know that many gardeners are already cutting back their flowers in preparation for winter. But hold on! Flowers with lots of seeds can be left as winter snacks for our feathered friends. Among the best are black-eyed susans, purple coneflower, sunflowers, zinnias, Joe Pye weed, coreopsis, sedums and ornamental grasses. Wait until spring to cut those back so that finches, chickadees, cardinals and other seed-eaters can enjoy them, especially on those cold, snowy mornings when you don’t want to go fill up your feeder.

And of course, leaving some work for spring means less work now! So leave some seeds for the birds, and enjoy watching them in the winter.

Henry is the author of four gardening books. His website is www.Gardening-Guy.com. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo by Henry Homeyer.

With a little practice you’ll get it right

Fall is a good time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs. Once the leaves have dropped you can see the form — and the clutter — and decide what to take out. But before you begin, think about sharpening up your pruning tools, replacing blades, or buying new ones. Dull pruning tools are like dull kitchen knives: They’ll do the job, but not very well.

How tough is it to sharpen your own pruners? It’s really not that difficult. The biggest problem people have is overcoming their initial fear of ruining their tool by doing it wrong. You need to learn the proper angle, have the proper sharpening tool and have the patience to do it right. Experience will tell you if you have done well, and you won’t ruin those Felcos (the most common brand of bypass pruners out there) even if you don’t get it quite right the first time. It’s fun, once you get the hang of it.

What do you need for sharpening tools? The best sharpeners for hardened steel tools are made using synthetic monocrystalline diamonds embedded in nickel. I like the diamond sharpeners because they are very efficient. As a rule, five to 10 minutes on a conventional oilstone is equal to about a minute with a diamond sharpener. Coarse files are fine for most pruners, while fine files are better for scissors and knives that are kept very sharp.

What’s the first thing you need to do when starting off? I clean the pruners, which usually are covered with dried sap and dirt and sometimes rust. You can use soap and water, but I prefer a product called Sap-X. I let it work for 30 seconds and then scrub the blades, first with coarse steel wool and then, after reapplying the solvent, with a green scrubbie or fine steel wool to get the rust. If you don’t clean your pruners prior to sharpening, all of that debris will end up clogging your sharpener.

Then what? Grasp the pruner in your left hand (if you are right-handed), holding on to the handle that extends to the cutting blade. The cutting blade is the one that moves when you open and shut the pruners and is the only one that you need to sharpen. Steady it by placing the pruner on the edge of a table. Working under a bright light helps, because it will help you to see the shiny edge that develops as you sharpen.

Start sharpening as near to the throat of the pruners as you can (where the two handles join). Place the narrow tip of the tapered file at the throat, and push the file away from you, sliding it down the length of the beveled edge. With practice you will be able to use the full length of the file as you run it down the blade.

How will you know if you are sharpening at the correct angle? What you’re trying to do is restore the edge of your pruners to the original angle set when it was manufactured. Before you start take a marker and “color” the steel on the beveled edge of the moveable blade. This will help you to see what you’re doing — you want to remove the marks evenly across the beveled edge with your sharpener. If only a small portion of the blade turns shiny, you need to change the angle of your file slightly.

How much pressure should you apply on your sharpening tool? Not much — let the diamonds do the work. Sharpening will feel awkward at first, but gets easier as you do it. Use nice slow even strokes.

If you don’t have pruners, buy the best ones you can afford. If you take care of them, they will outlast you. Yes, you can buy some that look good for $10, but the quality of the steel will not be the same as buying good ones. Plan on spending $50 or more. If you can try them out before buying some — or use a friend’s pruners — that would help you make a good choice. They all come in various hand sizes, and some are right- or left-handed.

I have tried many kinds of pruners, but my favorites are made by Bahco, a French company. I’ve had some for 20 years that have a good ergonomic design and will cut branches up to 1.25 inches in diameter. I got mine from a company in Massachusetts, OESCO (1-800-634-5557 or www.OESCOinc.com).

And what if you can’t seem to get sharpening right, then what? I’m sure with a little practice you’ll get it right! But good pruners have replaceable blades, so if you’ve been cutting steel fencing with your pruners and ruined them, you can buy a new blade.

A replacement blade for a pair of Felco pruners (which cost $60 or more new) only costs about $20. Changing a blade requires a few basic tools, some common sense, and less than 5 minutes of work. And you need to look carefully at your pruners to see which model you have. Felcos have a number on the stationary blade, depending on the model you have, anywhere from 2 to 12.

As a last resort, look in the Yellow Pages under “Sharpening Services” and you should be able to find someone to do it for you — and maybe even show you how to do it yourself next time.

Henry lives in Cornish, N.H. You can reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He is the author of four gardening books and offers PowerPoint presentations to gardening clubs and libraries.

Featured photo by Henry Homeyer.

See a culprit, dig it out

I’m lucky. Unlike many houses built in the 1800s or early 1900s, mine had no invasive plants when I bought it in 1970, probably because it was built as a creamery, or butter factory. Decorative plants were not needed. Most older houses are plagued with plants brought from Asia or Europe by well-meaning people who did not know that, once imported, those handsome plants might not have any predators that could keep them under control. Most of our native insects will not eat foreign plants.

Plants including Japanese knotweed, Asian bittersweet, goutweed, purple loosestrife, yellow pond iris and multiflora roses have thrived in New England, and all are nearly impossible to get rid of, once established. Unfortunately, I now have four of the six mentioned above. But no Japanese knotweed or bittersweet, thankfully (they are two of the worst).

Plants including Japanese knotweed, Asian bittersweet, goutweed, purple loosestrife, yellow pond iris and multiflora roses have thrived in New England, and all are nearly impossible to get rid of, once established. Unfortunately, I now have four of the six mentioned above. But no Japanese knotweed or bittersweet, thankfully (they are two of the worst).

The multiflora rose was introduced from Asia in the 1860s as a vigorous ornamental rose and as a source of rootstock for grafted roses. In the 1930s it was widely introduced as erosion control and alongside highways — a mature planting is so dense it can prevent cars from going over median strips. But the birds liked the rose hips — the seed pods — and it escaped cultivation.

So what am I doing to eliminate it on my property? I am digging it out. Most effective for one- or two-year-old plants, I am using a curved, single-tine hand tool called the CobraHead (www.cobrahead.com) to carefully excavate the roots until I can lift the plant out.

First, I dress appropriately: jeans, long-sleeved shirt, a hat with a brim, and heavy winter leather work gloves. This culprit wants to hurt anyone trying to uproot it. I cut off the branches, just leaving a foot or so to grab onto when pulling it out. Then I loosen the soil and pull weeds around it. The roots radiate outward from the stem like spokes on a bike. I loosen each root and tug gently when they are small enough to remove.

First, I dress appropriately: jeans, long-sleeved shirt, a hat with a brim, and heavy winter leather work gloves. This culprit wants to hurt anyone trying to uproot it. I cut off the branches, just leaving a foot or so to grab onto when pulling it out. Then I loosen the soil and pull weeds around it. The roots radiate outward from the stem like spokes on a bike. I loosen each root and tug gently when they are small enough to remove.

I’ve read that just cutting back the stems to ground level will stimulate the roots to send up new shoots everywhere, causing a bigger problem. There is no easy answer. Invasive plants are always difficult to remove — usually a scrap of root can generate a new plant or several.

Buckthorn is another invasive that is common along streams and at the edges of fields. As with multiflora rose, cutting it down stimulates the roots to send up new shoots. The best way to eliminate it is to starve the roots: Take a pruning saw and cut through the bark and the green layer of cambium beneath that. Go all the way around the trunk, then repeat 6 inches above the first cut, and repeat. This will not kill the tree until the third year, but this slow death will not stimulate the roots to grow. Best done in winter or fall after leaf drop.

Since buckthorn is often multi-stemmed, it can be difficult to use that method. Do it up high enough that you can get your saw in between the stems. But I’ve done it, and it works.

Purple loosestrife is blooming now in swamps and wet places — it is gorgeous but outcompetes many of our native wetland plants that feed pollinators and other animals. Like many invasives, it produces huge numbers of seeds and these seeds don’t all germinate the next spring — many stay dormant for years. I’ve read that multiflora rose seeds can stay viable up to 20 years — a good reason to clear plants out when young.

My approach to purple loosestrife is to dig out new, young plants. I recognize them by their square stem, the leaf shape and the color of the stem, which is often reddish. But for big established plants I just use a curved harvest knife to slice off the foliage once or more than once each summer. This prevents seed production and reduces plant energy.

As regular readers of this column know, I only use organic techniques in the garden. This means no chemicals including herbicides. From what I have read, most herbicides will not kill the invasives mentioned in this article. They will set them back considerably, depending on the age of the plant and the dose of the chemical. But learning to recognize all the invasives is best. And if one appears on your landscape, get rid of it immediately! And remember, persistence is important.

Henry is a lifetime organic gardener living in Cornish, N.H. He presents at garden clubs and libraries around the region, and is the author of four gardening books. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo by Henry Homeyer.