Seasonal Tips - Wiltrout Nursery Chippewa Falls, WI

	Seasonal Tips

	Fall
	We've had a few frosty nights already and more are coming! You'll want to use the remaining nice days to do some essential chores in your yard and garden before the weather turns truly nasty. Here are a few things you'll want to get done before the snow flies. Weeding: Check your garden for any large weeds covered with seeds and get rid of them before the seeds fall! It's easier to pull one weed than to pull the hundreds of offspring next year. Pruning: Fall is one of the best times to prune trees and shrubs. Since the plants are going dormant and dropping their leaves anyway, they won't go into shock. Even so, try not to remove so many branches that the tree or shrub has lost more than 25% of its leaves; this will stunt its growth. Do be sure to tar up any trimming wounds since the plants can't heal until spring. Planting: Yes, fall is a great time to plant! Potted trees and shrubs have started losing their leaves, making them safe and easy to transport without any time-consuming wrapping to protect the leaves. Plus, you only have to water once and then the plant will be fine until spring. (Evergreens will continue to need periodic watering until the ground freezes.) Fall plantings should be given only a light dose of organic fertilizer, since water-soluble fertilizer is apt to leach out during the winter. Winterizing Plants: This is probably the most important fall garden chore. Young maple trees (especially red maples of any sort) need their bark shielded from the winter sun to prevent unsightly cracking. Wrap them with a light frost cover fabric or tree wrap, or use a white plastic guard that covers up at least as high as the lower branches. In a pinch, you can use white paint. Maples need protection until their bark begins to furrow with age. Tender perennials can be covered with straw around November 1st to increase their chances of wintering. Note that while cutting back perennials in fall is convenient, the dead tops are an additional protection for the plant. Roses should have their crowns buried in several inches of dirt or mulch. Rugosa type roses are much hardier and will be fine without this. Protect any vulnerable plants from deer, rabbits, and mice. Fruit trees need to have a bark guard around their base to prevent mice from eating the bark off. Spray vulnerable plants heavily with a good deer and rabbit repellant such as Liquid Fence just before freeze-up. Blueberries and raspberries, especially, may need to be fenced if you have deer and rabbits. Ponds: In this climate, we recommend closing down your pond for winter. Trim back any perennial pond plants in fall so you won't have to do it in spring when you may damage the new growth. Fish can winter either in the pond with the waterfalls off, or inside in a stock tank or fish tank. If you are planning to use a heater, it's a good idea to have a backup heater on hand if your heater is more than 2 years old; that seems to be their typical life span. If you have hired us to close down your pond in previous years, we'll be calling you to schedule a time to do that. You are also welcome to call us. For more information on how to close down a pond, see:
	Seasonal Pond Maintenance

	For information and tips on caring for fish through the winter, see:
	Caring for Pond Fish

	Thanks for a great year; we look forward to seeing you again in the spring!

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	Late Summer/Fall
	It may still feel like summer out there, but your plants are starting to wind down in preparation for fall and winter. Cut back any perennials that are looking ugly, such as Asiatic lilies and bleeding hearts. Deadhead any plants you don't want to seed down. Make sure you continue to water your plants as needed, but don't fertilize them after about August 1st. Late summer fertilizing tends to encourage growth which may not harden off in time for frost. Watch for weeds! Many fall weeds grow very quickly and seed down before you notice them. Thinking about adding a new plant to your landscape? Go ahead! Contrary to popular belief, fall is a great time to plant potted nursery stock - the summer heat is over so your watering chores will be less. As long as you can dig the soil, it's okay to plant. Early fall plantings can still establish themselves before winter, while later plantings may go dormant and establish themselves first thing in the spring. Both should overwinter just fine. So go ahead and shop; plants are cheaper in the fall anyway! Just stay away from anything that's not winter hardy (zone 4 here in Chippewa Falls). Ponds Now is the time to make sure your fish are well-fed so they're prepared for their long winter fast. Cooler weather often brings on algae problems which can clog your filter mats and make your pond look messy. Patience and a bottle of Algaefix (available in our Pond Shoppe) should help. Always follow label directions when using any pond chemicals. Trim or weed out overgrown plants as needed to keep your pond looking good. Your hardy pond plants may begin turning yellow and going dormant. This is normal. Hardy water lilies (especially red or pink ones) may stop blooming as the weather turns colder. Clip off any ugly leaves but don't fertilize them after about mid August. Tropical lilies can be fertilized and should continue to bloom until frost.

	Summer
	Still working on this one! :)

	Late Spring
	Hopefully the last frosty night is behind us now for the next few months! It's time to start enjoying the warm season! Here are a few yard jobs that are ideally done in late spring: Spring Fertilizing Late spring is a great time to fertilize your plants. Most plants and trees can be fertilized by spreading a slow-release granular fertilizer around the base of the plant, extending out as far as the top is wide. Follow the directions on the package. Blueberries and other acid-loving plants need organic fertilizer; dig some Milorganite into the top 2" of soil around blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, and other acid-loving plants. Removing Dead Plants Now is also a good time to take inventory of anything that may have died over the winter. You may wish to wait another 2-4 weeks before pulling out an apparently dead plant, just in case it's still going to bud out. Planting New Plants Late spring and early summer are great times to plant new [potted] plants. It's warm enough to cause rapid growth, but not yet hot enough to make watering a real chore. By the time July rolls around, your new plants will have established themselves a bit. Ponds If you have not yet cleaned out your pond for spring, do so now. It's warm enough now to put fish outside that have wintered indoors and purchase new hardy water lilies and other pond plants. Tropical lilies can be purchased as well if the weather is going to be warm.
	How to Clean out Your Pond for Spring




	Spring
	Prune back fruit trees, grape vines, and trees and shrubs in the spring before they start growing (unless you did it in the fall, which is an equally good time). The exception is shrubs that flower early in the season, such as lilacs. These should be pruned immediately after blooming. Cut old dead tops off perennials and uncover them as things start to grow if you covered them with mulch for the winter. Spring is the ideal time to plant new landscape plants, although potted plants can be successfully planted anytime. If you wish to dig and move any small trees or shrubs, do it now before they bud out. Likewise, most perennials are best moved or divided in early spring (irises and peonies are an exception). Be cautious about planting any greenhouse-grown plants until nighttime temps stay consistently above 40 degrees. Tomatoes and other tropicals prefer 50-60 degrees minimum.