With the comer of November , all planetary house point to the end of the produce season and the source of wintertime dormancy in the ornamental garden . On strong mean solar day , bee , flies , beetles , and other insects bear on to bring down the few stay bloom in search of nutriment . Take vantage of those milder days to complete train the garden for cold weather condition onward .
IS IT TOO lately TO PLANT TREES AND bush ?
Perennials should be planted at least 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes so that they have time to develop good strong root systems before the onset of cold weather . Other plants , such as the pursual , may be planted decent up until the ground suspend :
THERE ’S STILL TIME TO WRAP UP THESE TASKS BEFORE wintertime
If you ’re a procrastinator or just a very busy person , you may still be form on putting your garden to layer for the winter . Here ’s a suggested list of project to tackle before winter :
DON’T FORGET TO PROTECT YOUR planting FROM WILDLIFE harm
The garden may be going sleeping now but that does n’t mean you could break monitoring it for sign of wildlife damage .
HOUSEPLANT CARE
Now that houseplants are fully acclimated to the indoors after their holiday outside this summer , focus on keeping them goodly and happy within your home ’s quick , desiccant experimental condition . To read more about the cosmopolitan care and eating of houseplants , see VCE Publication426 - 100 , “ Indoor Plant Culture . ”
INVASIVE ALERT
Chinese Privet(Ligustrum sinense ) is one of the most widely found invasive plant life in the South , allot to the Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management ( PRISM ) . This evergreen to semi - evergreen shrub typically grows 10 ’ to 15 ’ tall but can reach 30 ’ . Shallow , wide - spreading , suckering root allow it to form large monotypic standstill and impenetrable brushwood that demolish wildlife habitat . Although Taiwanese privet and all other species of privet are invasive , they are still being sold in nurseries as hedges or privacy screen . White or off - white flowers bloom profusely in June ; dreary - black , berrylike fruits come out in August and last into wintertime . Although small seedlings can be removed manually , larger bush usually re - sprout , so confer with the detailedcontrol counseling provided by the Blue Ridge PRISM , which discusses a diversity of options that are effectual at this sentence of yr . For more info onChinese Privet , check out the YouTube video on the U.S. Department of Agriculture ’s National Invasive Species Information Center website , and for help in discover it , thecollected photos at Invasive.org . To learn more about other trespassing species in this expanse of Virginia and methods for controlling them , see theBlue Ridge PRISMwebsite . See also theInvasive Plant Control Calendarin the May 2022 issue ofThe Garden Shed .
Featured Photo : Pink Muhly Gunter Grass by Cathy Caldwell
