Creating something beautiful from the signs of seasonal change
As autumn winds swirl colorful leaves from the trees, I’m always looking for ways to enjoy them for a while before spreading them on beds and borders. One lovely way to engage children in autumn tidying is to ask them to help line paths and walkways with especially beautiful leaves and berries. Even toddlers get a kick out of this and it helps older children (and adults) learn to view the world with creativity. Some years we sew long leafy swags with linen thread and drape them over trellises and archways to frame an entry with some seasonal flash. Hung from a porch, strands of leaves spin and swirl in the wind, making wonderful decorations for a Halloween display.
I like to mark the passing of the year by making a garden ofrenda, an outdoor version of the beautiful Mexican altars that honor the passing of family and friends with images, pictures, flowers and colorful cloth. We gather summery remnants and assemble them into mosaics made of flowers and foliage, berries and moss, lichens and curls of peeling bark. Made along garden paths, these vignettes are beautiful reminders of seasonal change, the more lovely for being vulnerable to wind and rain. Like sand mandelas that are finished, observed, then swept away, these temporary artworks don’t need longevity to make them valuable.
While tidying up beds and borders, I do as little disruption as possible, leaving anything standing that carries seeds for busy birds or late blooms for lingering bees. However, one disruptive task best done now is dividing overgrown perennials. Daylilies, irises, hostas and many other perennials bloom poorly when crowded. To encourage fresh growth, dig up dense colonies with a garden fork and shake off the soil. The innermost, oldest bits of elderly clumps are apt to be woody, so compost them, only keeping roots attached to crown buds or live stems.
Tease clumpers like hostas and daylilies into small pieces by shaking them while pulling firmly on a crown (a section of upper growth with root attached). Bearded iris have tuberous roots like ginger that can be snapped into pieces with a fan or two of foliage attached. Cut plants with fibrous root systems, like daisies and Siberian iris, into chunks; a heavy chef’s knife is my tool of choice. However, don’t use your good tools for this little chore, because they will never be quite the same afterwords (as I happen to know).
Before replanting, refresh the soil with compost. Remember that irises want the top half of their tubers exposed, but most perennials prefer to have foliage above ground, roots below. For a generous display the first year, group pieces 8-12 inches apart to make new clumps. For sweeps, interweave wide ribbons of each color. Refresh container plantings the same way, using new potting soil (compost the old stuff) and watering the new plants in well. Only fertilize newbies with organic transplanting food, nothing over a 5-5-5 ratio, as we want to feed roots, not stimulate new growth.
This is a great time to take cuttings of woody shrubs like roses, hydrangeas and lilacs as well as subshrubs like lavender, rosemary, and sage. Choose un-flowered shoots that are firm but neither brittle nor swishy-soft. Cut several side shoots with some of the mother stem (main branch) attached and trim them to 4-6 inches long. Stick the mother stem end several inches deep into a pot of compost mixed half and half with sand. Place the pots where they will get rain all winter and by spring, new growth will appear. Good luck!
Contact Ann Lovejoy at 413 Madrona Way NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 or visit Ann’s blog at http://www.loghouseplants.com/blogs/greengardening/ and leave a question/comment.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Creating something beautiful from the signs of seasonal change
