 For protection, you could always try covers over the plants you
want to protect. You will need to use something with a little
bit of insulation value, such as cardboard, blankets or row
covers. The row covers themselves don't have much of an R-value,
but the air space between the cover and plant does. Just laying
a cheap tarp on your plants will usually result in at least some
damage to the top parts of the plant. And if there are windy
conditions, it may be about impossible to keep much of anything
covered.
If you are ready to have the season conclude, harvest what
you can. The main things to harvest prior to a frost or freeze
are squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes. Virtually
everything in the garden will be affected except for
frost-tolerant crops such as lettuce, spinach, radishes and the
like. The main problem with any of the vining crops is the
possibility of the vines rotting back to the vegetable. This in
turn means they won't keep well. Unfortunately, vining crops
harvested early won't continue to ripen. Green pumpkins tend to
stay green. If vines were frosted, harvest any produce you want
quickly. Once the vine rots back to the fruit, the fruit will
rot quickly.
For tomatoes, you may pick green ones and they will ripen
after a period of time. The best way is to pick firm,
good-quality fruit and wash well with soapy water. After they
are dry, wrap in newspaper or tissue paper and place on a rack
or in a cardboard box in a single layer. Check periodically for
tomatoes going out of condition or becoming ripe. To speed
things along, you can try putting a tomato in a paper lunch bag
with a banana peel. Bananas are high in ethylene, which is the
same thing used in a gas form to ripen tomatoes in transport
during the winter. Of course, the flavor just isn't the same as
a vine-ripened tomato, but tomatoes in the fall or winter are
good regardless.
As for flowers, the same principles of protection apply to
annuals. Of course, if you have hanging baskets or potted
plants, you can simply put them in a garage or shed until the
danger of frost has passed. The key point is that one or two
nights of frost followed by a week or two of good weather
probably justifies some protective measures. A frost every night
for two weeks, or a long period of freezing temperatures,
probably means major efforts will produce very little gain.
[to top of second column] |
Fall care of peonies
Peonies are one of those "plant it and forget it" flowers. Many
haven't been bothered for over 50 years and are still going strong.
As with most plants, crowding can occur, and the time to dig and
divide is late September through October. Peonies do best in soils
with a slightly acid to neutral pH. The best time to add lime, if
needed, is when you dig the plants.
When dividing, make sure you leave buds on each piece you plan to
plant. To allow for proper flowering, these buds should be no deeper
than an inch when replanted. Mulching will help yearlong on any
plant, and peonies are no exception.
Pruning raspberries
To start with, remove all the dead, short and weak canes on
raspberry plants. Thin the large remaining canes to 4 to 8 inches
apart. Cut the canes back to 5-6 feet tall, or if no support is
provided, 3 to 4 feet tall. The canes that produced last year should
be removed any time after harvest or removed in the late fall. Canes
are productive only one year, and the new growth will produce the
next year's harvest.
The exception is the Heritage, or ever-bearing,
raspberry, which produces two crops of berries. One is in the fall
and the second in late spring or early summer. The fall bearing
tends to be on the tips of the canes, while the spring bearing is on
the next growing section lower. These berries should have the canes
removed after the late spring or early summer crop.
[By
JOHN FULTON,
University of Illinois Extension]
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