Nature Shares Her Brilliant Array of Colors

In many parts of the West region, a couple of frosty nights damaging to many tender garden plants will be followed by a long warm, fall period called "Indian Summer." It is a shame that so many plants are lost in this first short period of frost, for if protected, they might go on blooming for as long as a month or more. Covering with blankets, newspapers, or polyethylene tents during the nights when frosts threaten, will help ward off frost damage.

New evergreens that were planted this year will benefit from extra protection over the first winter. They are extremely sensitive to drying out. A burlap barrier or tent built on the windward side of the plants will reduce drying out from winter winds. Evergreens planted in open, exposed parts of the yard will especially benefit from such protection.

Fall Color

Many trees and shrubs will be clothed soon in a brilliant array of colors. There will be the deep yellows of birch, poplar, and aspen, and brilliant reds from various maples. Japanese barberry, Peking cotoneaster, and red osier dogwood will show striking color. Some shrubs and trees retain their natural green coloring until the end of the season, offering a striking contrast with the red, orange and yellow foliage. Other shrubs will bear colorful fruits.

Fall is clean-up time in the garden. Leaves should be raked up from the lawn. Allowed to gather on the lawn, they mat down during the winter and may smother some of the grass. Carry them off to the compost pile. Waste plant materials can also be removed from the garden to put on the compost. However, there are some advantages in leaving stalks and stems of plants in the garden over winter. They catch additional snow and give added protection to perennial flowering plants and sensation plant. Of course, if any of the plant tops are harboring disease, it is best to remove and burn them.

It may not be wise to mulch trees and shrubs. One of the greatest dangers of mulches around woody plants is that they often harbor mice. These in turn can be harmful to trees and shrubs by feeding on the bark and young stems and causing girdling of the plants. Be sure to spread around some poison bait, if mulches are used.