Apple Tree On The Move

 Today was the day we moved the Gala Apple Tree into the empty spot left when we removed the old Lilac.   This is where I wanted it all along, but when we bought the tree we had not yet worked up the initiative to destroy that poor old bush.  So the apple tree spent a year and a half in a temporary spot and did its duty cross pollinating the other trees. I started moving things around to fill the area weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until the tree was more dormant before I disturbed it.  Yes, it still has most of its leaves, but they are loose and fall each time you give it a good shake.

I felt a little bit bad cutting it loose from its moorings.  It was well rooted and had a few roots thicker than my pinky finger that I had to cut with a pruner.  But we were careful how we planted it, and with a regular watering schedule it ought to root in well over the next month.  It will need to be watered every day for the next two weeks, and then twice a week for the next month after that.  It should also have water throughout the winter unless the ground is already saturated.

We dug a hole one and a half times the diameter of the root ball, added fertilizer and made sure the root flare was high enough above grade so it would not be covered when mulch was added.  We watered it in well before we mulched.  The anchors will prevent the wind from pushing it over and can be loosened gradually as the roots begin to take hold.

We mulched around it but left the area where we will be planting grass seed bare.  We want to shrink the overall size of the mulched area but that can be done in the spring.

All Ahead Slow

There are no big projects left outdoors, but there are little things to keep me occupied day to day.

While I wait for the neighbor to appear so we can go for our morning walk, I turn the compost pile.

 

Whenever I spot a sufficient pile of leaves, I suck them up in my chopper.  What is not used for mulch in the spring will be turned into the compost next year.

The Garden gnomes have had their baths and are drying out before heading to the shed for winter.

I potted up an ivy that was too nice to toss, and one of the last of the rootlings from the destruction of the Lilac bush.

I cleared away the annuals from the feet of the dahlias.  I am labeling any that don't have visible labels.  At this stage I am pruning out anything that falls or breaks.  One of these days I will begin to dig.

We beat the brush back from this corner below so we can blow leaves into it with the mower.

There were some small saplings and shrubs started, and plenty of goldenrod.

There is also Milkweed in there which will come back next summer.

Above is how it had grown in over the past few summers.

I remember when it was clear enough to have a planter in it.

The woods and undergrowth cannot resist moving into any empty space.

Rainy Weather

 52F and drizz today.  In the past two days we have had more rain than we have in the last month.  Not quite .75"  The many male bumble bees are clinging to the dahlias.  You need to choose your bedroom wisely.

Good Choice

Poor Choice

When the rain let up and the sun came out I went back out to see how everyone was faring and they were all drying out.

The Last Moment

 Yesterday was the end of our long stretch of perfect weather.  Nothing but rain and cool temperatures in the forecast with mentions of frost next week. I certainly don't mind wearing long sleeves or spending some rainy afternoons on indoor projects.  This certainly isn't the end of my gardening activities.  There are still Dahlias to store and an apple tree to move.  

Yesterday morning's sunrise was so beautiful through our trees.  Here is a picture from the neighbor's Facebook page.

While it is not the end of gardening, nothing will be growing in that cool weather, and I don't want to store wet soil.  Time to dump the last of the containers and get the salvageable soil stored in the Dirt Locker.   One producing tomato plant (Pike County Yellow), a container of Havasu peppers, two containers of sweet potatoes and some carrots.

Nice fluffy potting mix!  I just knock the roots out (sift if necessary) and store it away.  This will need to be rejuvenated next year with fertilizer and probably some perlite (because this stuff could use some aeration and better drainage) but can be used again.  I might even extend this with some fresh mulch next year because it has broken down quite fine at this point.

Too much to fit!  The rest went into Rubbermaid tubs

This is my last harvest.  The carrots will be used soon, but the sweet potatoes will have to be cured and stored.  The green tomatoes should ripen on the counter and the peppers will keep in the hydrator.  These peppers finally sweetened up enough to eat raw so I have been dipping them in hummus.

The sweet potatoes were grown in 7 gallon pots.  They need to be deeper pots.

There is still plenty of lettuce which will love this weather and I still have Parsnips in the ground along the strawberry cages, but I will not dig those until January thaw.  The difference between November parsnips and January parsnips is incredible.  They need a good long cold phase to sweeten.

Morning

 

Morning out my bedroom window.  Work to be done

Year Three of the Tree Cleanup

Those of you who have been following for awhile may remember the year of the trees, 2021, when all we did was work on trees.  Half of our road frontage was wooded, but the many white pine trees (and white ash) had reached the end of their lifespan and had begun to come down.  The first tree came down in March 2021.  We did two rounds of tree removal resulting in two truck loads of useable logs and many days of cleanup. and we are still putting money into it.  We have never wanted to turn it into lawn, but we do want to be able to brush hog it now and then.  For the most part it turns into a nice wildflower meadow but does get to looking shaggy and unkempt now and then and needs to be mowed. Despite having the big stumps ground, and several sessions of smaller stump pulling on a somewhat recreational basis, there were still stumps and roots that would rattle the mower.

A week ago we had our excavator friend come and help out with the biggest remaining stump problem.

He plucked the stumps that were all entangled in a big mass, then he dug a big hole, put the stumps back in the bottom of the hole, and covered them over with that nice black loam.  We also had a few loads of clean fill brought in to level off the whoopdeedoos left from all of the grinding and digging.

Just a visual refresher....

Mid-Project

We had a driveway put in the middle of the frontage just to allow us to get equipment in and out without ruining our house drive.  We used a big landscape rake to smooth everything out towards the low spot to the right.

The rake kicks up any roots or big rocks which need to be hand picked.  You have to be careful of poison ivy.  In fact, I am sure that some of these roots are not tree roots, but massive poison ivy roots.  Afterall, the vines were as thick as your wrist.

This time of year we are picking up after a lot of trees, both alive and dead.  The big, beautiful Horse Chestnut tree in the front yard is a real mess.  The chestnuts are falling at the rate of about a five gallon bucket a day.

Just what fell overnight.  This is bucket #3 of the season and it was full by afternoon.

This time of year you walk under this tree at your own peril.  She is throwing things!  And they are spikey.  If they hit you in the noggin they rattle your teeth!  And if one falls from higher up by the time it gets through all of the lower branches it will have created an avalanche of ten or twenty nuts which shower down on you.

By the end of the season we will have collected at least seven buckets of nuts and thrown them into the woods to keep the deer and squirrels back away from the house.  We also have to rake the shells and sticks before we mow each time to make sure we have all of the nuts picked up.  You certainly don't want the mower picking up one of those big nuts and whipping it at your house!

Some more peaceful views of autumn trees....

Bulb Planting

 Yesterday I got some happy mail!  Just a few fall bulbs to plant.  I already have a scant few Hyacinths which have never done that much.  So I am going to try again in a different spot.  I love Hyacinths.

Dutch Vintage The Sky is Blue

Hyacinth Pink Pearl

Dutch Vintage Bubble Blend Allium

I have never tried Alliums before.  I added a small allium to my spring garden this year, but I have a spot which I thought would look really nice with the big alliums.  I have a new worry with fall bulbs.  I have some sort of critter rooting around in my bulbs.  It could possibly be a squirrel, chipmunk, raccoon or skunk.  Or maybe something I haven't even thought of.  Our squirrel population is pretty low right now.  Chipmunks tend to drill holes.  Raccoons usually taste whatever they dig up.  Therefore I think it is the skunk.

Whatever it is just sort of uncovers the bulbs and maybe disrupts them, but doesn't seem to eat them.  That doesn't really worry me with my older bulbs.  I just cover them back up.  But if I am paying for brand new bulbs I really don't want them disturbed.

Once I find my spot, I brush the mulch away for later, and sort out how many go in each spot.

I only have the short, starter version Power Planter Auger for my existing drill, but man does it make a difference in my life.  It makes short work of hard packed soil.

Bulbs should be covered with twice as much soil as their own height. I also add Bulb-Tone to the planting hole.

Now because I am worried about these being dug up I used squares of hardware cloth to cover them.  I pinned them down hard with landscape staples (I left these high so you can see them.)  The staples are in the undisturbed hardpack soil so they aren't coming out easy.

I covered two of the hyacinth groupings with the wire cloches.  This is sort of a comparison,  I think the cloches would offer a little more protection.  We'll see.  I do not intend to leave the wire squares in the spring, but in the event I do, the one inch squares would allow the plant to push up through without much trouble.

The large blue alliums went on either side of the Southern Charm Verbascum.  

Also tucked in well with hardware cloth pinned down firmly.

In my comings and goings I noticed another of my garden helpers.  He (or she?) was hopping furiously across from the pachysandra towards home.  I got right in front of him to slow him down for a moment.

"Will I have to go over you or through you?"

A minute later he was burrowing into his home under the old stump behind the Heuchera.