LIME TIME
Fall is a good time of the year for applying lime to lawn areas to correct the pH of
your soil. Before applying any kind of chemicals, fertilizers or lime, you should
have a soil sample taken to determine the fertility and pH of your soil, and what if anything is needed.
If applied now the rain, snow and frost action will work the materials down into the
soil to the root zone. The kind of limestone you want to apply to your lawns is ground or dolomitic
limestone. Limestone retains its correcting alkaline effects for several years.
WINDOWSILL GARDEN
Many herbs can be easily grown indoors on a window sill, for winter use. These fresh herbs are available and within easy reach when preparing you favorite dish or stews.
When used for cooking, only a few leaves at a time should be picked from each plant. They can be added to your meal or used as a garnish on plates.
Plants should be kept moist and turned regularly to keep them full and their stems erect. A sandy soil mixture will suit most herbs and helps insure good drainage.
WAIT FOR SPRING
Although November is an ideal month to move bare-rooted and deciduous trees and shrubs, there are a select few that should only be moved in Spring.
These include the Japanese Maples, Dogwood, Magnolia, Beech and Birch which all have thin bark. When temperatures drop below freezing the thin sapling bark splits very easily.
For this reason, it is best to wait until spring to plant. If any must be transplanted now, the trunk should be loosely wrapped with tree wrapping or burlap.
IN THE ORCHARD
Did you noticed any new leaves on your peach trees this spring that had a red or purple tint, or were curled and thickened?
If so, it is caused by a fungus that winters over on the twigs and bud scales of your peach trees, called peach leaf curl.
This is a good time of the year to correct this common garden problem by spraying your trees with a fungicide, to eradicate the spores.
FEATHERED FRIENDS
Not all of our birds migrate south for the winter months. Some of them are year-round northern residents and can be spotted regularly at your feeding stations.
Chickadees, kinglets, juncos, partridges, gold-finches, tree sparrows, blue jays, downy & hairy woodpeckers, flickers, nuthatches, snow buntings, cedar waxwings, grosbeaks, and shrikes can be seen all year.
