How to Improve Your Garden with Fall Cover Crops

  

Planting a cover crop in the fall is an effective way to protect and improve your garden soil, through the off season.  Cover crops perform several functions including increasing soil organic matter, fixing nitrogen, breaking up compacted soils, suppressing weeds, acting as a living mulch, promoting, and protecting soil microbial activity.  

  

Cover crops are usually planted in the off-season, after harvest. Though often referred to as “green manure”, cover crops are the actual plants. They become green manure, once they are turned into the soil.  

  

Commonly, cover crops fall into two categories: legumes and fast-growing grasses.   

  

Both categories will add organic material to the soil, but legumes bring the added advantage of nitrogen fixing. The term nitrogen fixing refers to the plant’s ability to convert nitrogen from the air into a form useable by plants. When the cover crop worked into the soil, the nitrogen is released and becomes available for crops that are planted in the area.  Clover, fava beans, hairy vetch are effective, nitrogen fixing cover crops.  

  

Fast growing grasses are planted to add organic material as well as improve soil tilth and structure. This includes buckwheat, oats, and winter rye. These grasses develop deep root systems which helps aerate and reduce compaction, as well as protect soil microorganisms.  

  

The time to plant a cover crop is as you finish harvesting and clear your crops. Cover crops can be planted in portions, which makes it easy to start putting down seed even as other parts of the garden are still producing.

There’s no need to till the soil. Rake up the soil with a bow rake, scatter the seed by hand, then cover lightly. Cover crop seeds will germinate quickly in the warm soils of late summer, early fall. The key is to keep the seed moist. Cover crops require little maintenance, once germinated. The main thing to watch for is to make sure the crop doesn’t go to seed.  

  

In the spring, the crop needs to be turned into the ground. This can be accomplished by cutting down the crop with a mower or weed trimmer, or by digging it in with a garden fork or hoe.  

  

Cover crops are well suited for all gardens, both in-ground and raised beds. They provide cover and stability for your soil through the winter months and help improve soil structure and fertility for the spring and summer garden.  

   

 

How to Plant, Grow and Care for Asters

Looking to add some flowers to the fall garden? As other perennials are starting to slow down, asters are just getting started, adding color to the landscape and providing support for pollinators. Asters are long-lived perennials that are members of the Asteraceae or daisy family. Typically, you’ll start to notice them late in the summer, blooming in response to shorter days, with flowers that can range from blue to purple to white depending on the species. Among the more popular cultivars are 

New England aster ‘Purple Dome’ 

Bushy Aster ‘Wood’s Pink’ 

‘Kristina’ 

 

 

Asters can be grown in containers as annuals, on the porch or deck. For the best results in the long term, asters need to be planted in the perennial bed.  

 

Start by selecting a spot in the garden that receives a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight. Asters planted in less than full sun will grow tall and scraggly, with reduced flower size. Next, amend the planting site with organic material, such as Earth Essentials Sheep. Peat and Compost. The planting hole should be twice as wide as the container and half again as deep. Once the site is ready, place your garden mum in the planting hole, making sure the crown of the plant is at the same level it was in the container. Fill in around the plant with amended soil. Next, mix up a solution of Root Stimulator and water the aster thoroughly. Root Stimulator will help the plant establish a strong root system going into winter. Aster will generally lose their top growth after a hard frost and begin to go dormant for the winter. When this happens, they need to be cut back to a few inches above the ground.

Wait until the ground is cold - usually around Thanksgiving before adding a five-to-six-inch layer of mulch, such as bark fines.  Mulch will help retain moisture and keep the ground stable. Mountain Magic Soil Pep is a good choice for mulch.  

 

Through the course of the winter, water the asters every five to six weeks. This practice applies to all trees, shrubs and perennials in your landscape. The following spring, after the threat of frost has passed, start to remove the mulch gradually. You can also remove any dead vegetation that may remain. In some cases, you’ll find the plant has already begun to leaf out.  

 

Planted in the garden now, hardy asters will offer seasonal color as well as pollinator support for many seasons to come.  

 

How to Grow and Care for Bearded Iris

 

Bearded iris has been a favorite of generations of gardeners and for good reason. They’re reliable perennials, blooming late spring into early summer. They’re easy to grow, available in a variety of bloom colors, and typically don’t require a lot of maintenance.  

 

Bearded Iris bear flowers with six petals: three upright petals which are called standards and three dropping petals which are called falls. The dropping petals have a fuzzy beard-like line running down the center, giving this perennial its name. 

 

Bearded irises grow from a thick root structure called a rhizome. As the plant matures the rhizome multiplies, resulting in more leaves and flowers. Over time, they can become crowded, and they stop producing as many blooms as possible. That’s an indication they need to be divided. Now’s the time to dig and divide bearded iris.   

 

The best tool to use to dig iris roots rhizomes, is a spading fork. Spading forks make it easy to get under and lift the rhizome without causing damage to the roots. Once you’ve got the clump of iris out of the ground, you’ll be able to see the rhizomes clearly.

You can divide the clump with a knife or by simply breaking off each root with your hand. Trim the leaves in a fan shape down to between 4" and 6".

Mark the leaves with the variety of the iris, so you’ll remember which one it is.  

When you’re planting your iris in their new location, remember that iris grow in the direction of the heel so place your rhizomes with the leaves planted in the direction you want the plant to grow.  

Bearded Iris are often planted in areas where they don’t get a lot of care. While they will do okay in clay soils, but they thrive in soils that have been amended, so add a couple of inches of Sheep, Peat and Compost and dig it in 4-5 inches.  Add some Bone Meal or Dutch Bulb Food and place the rhizome so that the roots are fanned out to the side, then add enough soil to cover the roots, leaving the very top of the rhizome exposed. Water in thoroughly. Your iris will establish through the fall and be ready to bloom next spring.  

For the rest of the iris in your garden, remove any dead vegetation, cut the foliage back to 4” to 6” long and fertilize with Bone Meal or Dutch Bulb Food, then water thoroughly. Around Thanksgiving, apply a wood mulch to the iris bed. This will prepare your iris for the winter season ahead, by stabilizing the ground and conserving moisture. Remove the mulch from the top of the rhizome in early spring.

This is also a good time to add new varieties and colors to your garden. We’ve just received our shipments of bearded iris rhizomes, so it’s a great time to add to your collection, while stock is fresh and there’s a good selection of colors.  As you're shopping for bearded iris, you may notice some boxes are labeled "Blooms Spring and Fall". These are "reblooming" iris, that is iris that have been developed to produce blooms in the spring and again in the fall. The same planting guidelines apply.

Pick a good solid rhizome, amend the soil well, add some Bone Meal and make sure you mark the iris, so you’ll remember the name next spring.  With proper care, your iris will bloom reliably for many springs to come.