Final fall cleanup?

I decided to try something different this year with my leaves. I have three fruit trees along the west side of the backyard and they drop a prodigious amount of leaves. The pile looks so nice and yellow and thick.

The rest of the yard doesn’t get any leaves on it unless there is a good wind. The last few years I have been raking the leaves onto the perennials beds, beds that I had not yet planted anything in waiting for the compost and mulch to breakdown in preparation for planting.

This year, I decided that since those beds have been planted and will get lots of mulch dumped on them after the ground freezes, I will share the wealth of those fruit tree leaves with the entire yard.

I raked all of the leaves over the entire yard and let them sit for a few days. No special reason for leaving them sit, I just didn’t feel like dragging the mower out until today. The weather gave Utah another beautiful, clear, 55F day and I, in my usual capricious manner, decided that today was the day for mowing. I find that as I get older I do things whenever I feel like it more so than when they have to be done. I am more or less within acceptable bounds as far as the proper timetable, but don’t count on me to do anything by a strict schedule, is all I am saying.

Now that the leaves had rested there a few days and it looked like they weren’t going to be blown away by the wind, I thought today would be a perfect day to follow through with my brilliant plan and put those leaves to work. The grass wasn’t really in need of mowing but that wasn’t why my intention. Besides this way I could run the gas out of the mower to get it ready for winter storage. I love it when I can do two or more things at once, thereby saving time. Ah, if only it would work out that way. If I timed it right the gas would run out at the exact moment when the last leaf was mulched. And if the mower just happened to be at the storage shed door when it happened, all the better. That kind of luck doesn’t usually come about easily so I wasn’t really counting on it.

The lawn looks nice now, all cleaned of leaf clutter. Of course, the next frost or gust of wind that comes along will sever the remaining leaves tenuous hold and another pile will be created. That pile I think will go to my pseudo-compost pile. There is still the apple tree, which hasn’t dropped any leaves yet. I guess it’s because it still has quite a few apples on it. But, I am sure that after all of the leaves have fallen and they are all sitting in their final resting place, only then will all of my fall chores finally be done.

Let’s see, I better double check my to do list...

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Winter mulch

Here’s what I discovered in reading about mulching for winter.

What is the difference between summer mulch and winter mulch anyway? I mean, you mulch to protect your plants, right? Something I never considered was timing. I was just going to throw a couple of inches of mulch on everything before it snows, much as we throw on a blanket on cold winter nights to keep us warm. Well imagine my surprise when a neighbor told me to wait until the ground freezes before mulching. I must have looked at him as if he were crazy or just pulling my leg. I told him that it would be too late then, that the tender roots of my newly planted plants would freeze to death by then.

So, I went to the internet to do some research. Not that I doubted what he told me. Well, alright, I did doubt him. After being told I should cut my Butterfly bushes to the ground in the spring so they will come back more beautiful and fuller than ever and that action led to their deaths, I decided for my own peace of mind that I’m going to have to double-check everything I hear.

What I found really made sense. The time to apply mulch is after the temperature is consistently below freezing. That’s right, wait until the ground freezes and then apply the mulch. This is because the plant needs to be dormant and winter mulch allows the plant to remain dormant until the spring sun can warm it up again. If you apply it too soon then you create a layer of warmth that could cause the plant to produce new growth and if this happens then the tender new buds will be killed when it does freeze.

Also, by applying mulch before the ground freezes you can smother a plant that is still growing. Because it is still growing and needs air circulation you are actually creating a perfect environment for diseases. So, wait until the ground freezes before mulching.

Typically, 2”-4” is adequate. Organic material, such as stiff leaves, straw, pine needles, hay or bark chips, is best because of two reasons. One, is that this bulky stuff allows some air circulation, whereas anything that mashes down creates a soggy mess that completely seals the plant which leads to, again, that perfect environment for diseases.

Now when I say stiff leaves, what I mean is Oak or Beech because they won’t mat down. Softer leaves such as Maple pack down and blocks air and water from passing through.

Okay, the second reason to use organic materials, as opposed to inorganic, is because it will break down into the soil, while inorganic materials won’t. The reason this is beneficial is because it will allow the soil to become more coarse which facilitates the flow of air and water and prevents clay soil, like I have here in Utah, from packing down into a brick.

Another thing I didn’t consider is the soil needs to be protected from the freeze/thaw cycle that can cause damage by heaving. So again, it makes sense to wait until the soil freezes and then the mulch to keep it frozen. Heaving pushes plant roots up out of the ground and is most harmful to shallow-rooted plants and any newly planted specimens that have not yet rooted.

For roses, it is best to mulch after the first hard frost by mounding soil over the crown, usually 6” deep. This is especially important for grafted roses. As I learned the hard way, a grafted rose is a rose of a specialty color that has been grafted onto a root stock, usually a red rose because they are most common. If the rose dies back to the ground and the root survives you will be greeted with a very different rose than the beautiful yellow or white rose you had last year.

Just as a side note, own-root roses do not suffer this problem.

Remove winter mulch in spring as soon as new growth begins. Pull it away from the base of the plant by about 3” to allow air circulation.

Now that was an especially informative trip to the internet and I told my neighbor he was absolutely right and I will believe whatever he tells me in the future. Well, only after I verify it first.

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