Mario Bautista
DELTA COUNTY, Mich. (WLUC) – Two master gardeners said people have different ideas for how to get a garden ready for fall, but whether one cuts plants back by machine or by hand, it’s time to start preparing the flowers and herbs for the first frost.
Advanced Master Gardener Ruth Botbyl of Gladstone has tended her garden full of color, greenery and honeybees since 1988.
“This, for me, is cheaper than therapy, and it’s just lovely. The spring is so exciting and the fall now, it’s really still beautiful,” Botbyl said. “There’s a lot going on and a lot to do and I have some trimming to do, and all that kind of stuff and I’ll keep doing it but a little at a time.”
Creating a successful garden isn’t like following a recipe. It requires innovation and experimentation.
“If you mulch to early, then you’re going to be in trouble,” Certified Advanced Master Garden Karen Moore of Escanaba said. “There are some people that like to cut back plants in the fall. There are some people that think that it’s beneficial to let the plant die because the nutrients from the leaves get into the soil and it helps the plant next year.”
Botbyl mixes it up. She cuts back irises and day lilies but leaves her hostas to die naturally.
With colder weather right around the corner, mums are back in the store and in season. Moore and Botbyl said there’s a trick to growing and caring for the popular fall flower.
“If you bring them home in a container without holes and you water them, they’re going to die,” Moore said. “I think a lot of people put them in a pot out on their patio and the pot fills up with water from the rain and then that’s why they die.”
The master gardeners said the key to a healthy, hearty mum is drainage. They suggested either put the mum in a pot with a drain hole or put it in the ground.
“If they put them in the ground the water naturally flows away, so the roots don’t rot,” Botbyl said.
Moore said there’s also a trick to when and how to properly water the plant.
“When you see the leaves just change a little bit, they’re getting just slightly droopy, then water it completely. You really can’t overwater it because you have drainage,” Moore said. “Don’t water it in the center. Usually, they’re in a wider pot. Water it all around the pot, so every part of it gets water. If you water in only the center part of the plant, the outside will not survive. So, if you water it all the way around and then let it drain, it should be fine.”
Moore added if the mum is in the ground, mulching it will help the plant survive through the winter. Botbyl has a large yellow mum in the ground that comes back year after year.
“And that’s wonderful. I mean it’s a gift that keeps giving,” Botbyl said. “You think you bought a mum for one year. You actually have it for many many years.”
Botbyl and Moore agree that with the warm weather, it’s not quite time to completely transition your garden. Moore said it’s too early to mulch. Botbyl said it’s too early to put bulbs in the ground.
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