As flowers and vegetable plants fade and dry up, there are a few late-season gardening tasks to tend to. Gardeners have questions as they prep plants, soil and tools for overwintering.
How to store soil in an apartment
Q: I’m about to retire my porch plants for the season. Railing planters and tomato grow bags, so not pottery. What should I do with the soil? My apartment doesn’t have a ton of space. - Jeanne
A: If the plants grew well without much disease, insect problems or nutrient deficiencies, then you can store some of that soil and reuse it next year.
Empty those pots out and then put the soil in a plastic bag. You can even leave the plastic bag outside, as long as it stays dry. Next spring, mix it in with some fresh soil, and you're all set.
If your plants had a lot of disease or insects on them, don't store the soil and just start fresh next year.
Too late to plant berry bushes
Q: Is it too late to plant raspberries? - Sarah, in Middlesex
A: If your plants are out of the ground, you'll want to put them in the ground very soon, but if you're thinking of buying plants or getting new plants, definitely wait until spring.
When and how to clean tomato cages
Q: I've just finished taking down my tomato cages and other tomato supports. Like many Vermont tomato growers this past summer, my plants really suffered from early blight. How do I prevent the recurrence of blight next summer? Should I defungicide everything that touched the tomato plants this year? How would I do that? - Sharon, in Braintree
A: Yes, you should be cleaning your metal tomato cages before storing them for winter. Start by getting off all the debris, soil and leaf matter.
Next, disinfect them with a 10% bleach solution that you can pour into a spray bottle and spritz onto the metal. That solution will kill some of the fungus that tends to overwinter on metal, like septoria leaf spot.
Cleaning metal tomato cages before you store them should get rid of most issues, and then you'll be ready to set them up again next year to grow more tomatoes.
How to remove overabundant buttercups
Q: How do I deal with these pesky weeds? Buttercups are worse than ground ivy, which at least can be ripped out easily. Buttercups spread as fast and have the most tenacious roots I've ever seen, including from dandelions. Help! - Kathy, via email
A: Ranunculus are little golden flowers that look beautiful but can become a creeping weed fairly quickly.
You can take some measures to ensure they don't overrun things. For instance, because buttercups love an infertile and acidic soil, if you have an area with just a few buttercups, you can pull them out this fall, and then put down some lime on that area.
Then next spring, come back in with some topsoil and compost mix, and spread it over that area, then reseed with fresh grass seed. Because you've increased the pH and fertility, it should keep the buttercups away.
If you have areas where there's nothing but buttercups, cover the area with a tarp to kill them off this fall. Then, next spring, pull them out when they're weakened, and do that same process of reseeding with grass seed.
How to ensure hydrangeas bloom in a changing climate
Q: Like many others, I have "Endless Summer" hydrangeas that went crazy in a good way this year. My two hydrangea bushes had never bloomed before this year in over a decade. Some say it happened because of the warming climate. Is there anything I can do to make them bloom again? - Kate, via email
A: It is likely that hydrangeas performed well this year due to the warming climate. We had a very warm winter, and that set up the stems that hold the buds to survive easily this winter.
Come the end of November or early December, get some wood chips and pile them over the plant so they're about a foot deep. This will help protect the bottom of the hydrangea plant's stems and the buds that are there.
Those are the flower buds that will bloom next year. And if you protect those, you'll get blooms earlier and more abundantly.
Then, in the spring, gradually move the wood chips away and keep an eye out for a late frost. As the weather warms, you should have an abundance of hydrangeas next year.
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