My Backyard: October Backyard and Garden Care Tips

Saturday, October 11, 2008

October Backyard and Garden Care Tips

Bird feeders need constant cleaning to maintain sanitary conditions. Unclean receptacles can develop fungi and bacteria, potentially causing disease and even death of your visiting birds. So it is important to clean your bird feeders once a month all year round.

Keep the following in a bucket:

a water bottle (useful in winter when outside spigots are frozen)
jug containing a bleach mixture (nine parts water to one part bleach)
a bottle brush for cleaning tube feeders, an old vegetable scrub brush, a sponge, gloves & a rag
1-inch and a 2-inch putty knife. The knives are useful for scraping out the old seed hulls that remain in the post-mounted feeders and getting into the tightest corners.

Begin cleaning your feeders by first removing the old seed and hulls.

Remove remaining residue with a damp sponge or scrub brush

Thoroughly wipe all surfaces that the birds may come in contact with bleach mixture.

Let air dry before adding seed. Even with only a few feeders, on a sunny or windy day it is usually possible to begin filling the dried feeders as soon as you have finished cleaning the last one.

Birdhouse and Fountain Maintenance

Your decorative birdhouses should have been mounted and cleaned last month to be ready for winter roasting. If not see more information...
Your Outdoor Garden Fountains should continue to be kept free of fall debris so the pump does not get clogged. Next month I will have more information on winterizing your fountains and ponds.

Clean your Outdoor Furniture

This is a good time to thoroughly clean your outdoor furniture. For more specifics on cleaning instructions for your furniture, read more …
May be necessary to paint or stain any worn or damaged areas on your wood furniture to cover and protect from further damage.

Lawn and Garden Care

If you have drip irrigation tubes outside, blow or drain the water out and put them in a sheltered area. Drain garden hoses so they don't freeze and store them away for the winter
If you have a shrub or small tree you'd like to relocate next spring, now is the time to prepare its root system. With a long-handled spade, dig a circle around the root ball, slicing through the roots. This will encourage new roots to develop inside the circle so the plant will have a more compact root system when you dig it up next year. This process, called “root pruning,” will result in less transplant shock. More information on transplanting shrubs and trees.
Prepare rose bushes for winter. Prune dead or damaged branches and cut off any old flowers. Using topsoil or mulch, mound the bush and cut canes back to six to twelve inches. To completely protect the bush, you can then cover it using a bushel basket, if the size is appropriate.
Begin to dig and store tender bulbs (such as tuberous begonias, dahlias, caladiums, and gladioli) when their foliage turns yellow and withers
Do not prune spring flowering shrubs as their buds have formed for next spring.
Continue fall planting especially pansies
Continue keeping your lawn free of leaves
Bring plants that are growing in containers inside for the winter. Bring in any annual geraniums! Either pot them and keep in a sunny spot so they will bloom all winter. Or hang them upside down (with the dirt removed) in a cool spot like the garage, or basement

Bulbs
Plant Spring Bulbs in your garden before the Frost so their roots can establish. See more details on the best time to plant in your area....
Squeeze a bulb before planting. It should be firm, not soft. Throw away soft bulbs
For more specifics on planting spring and fall bulbs- I found this website helpful. Also see this map for the normal freezing times in your area.

Perennial Care

Thoroughly water your perennials and shrubs.
The timing of cutting plants back for winter is important. Leaves should be browning or yellow. In general, later is better.
Plants that have had a disease or did not do well should be removed.
If you prefer your property having a neat appearance then, cutting back your perennials to the ground is the way to go. Leave some of their stems to mark their location so when you plant something else in the spring you will know where they are and won't accidentally disturb them.
If you would like to leave nesting areas for insects, seeds and berries for birds and other wildlife to survive on through the winter, then don’t cut your perennials to the ground instead cut them back to different heights as you see fit and aesthetically pleasing.
I tend to keep my front yard manicured with perennials cut to the ground and my backyard perennials trimmed so as to provide a place for nesting insects, etc.
Avoid cutting back to the ground hardy mums, asters and ferns. But do cut Iris green fan leaves back to 5"-6" above ground.
Divide plants that have open centers. Spring flowering plants are divided in the fall, as well as summer flowering plants. Do not divide fall flowering plants until next spring.
DON'T PUT MULCH DOWN YET!!!!!!! SHOULD BE DONE AFTER FIRST FREEZE