Folklore has it that “Ice in November to bear a duck; the rest of the winter will be slush and muck,” according to David Phillips’ The Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar. Given recent warming trends we can confidently declare that this is one prediction that is not all its quacked up to be.
What is predicted is that November is turning out to be perhaps the second-busiest month after May for northern gardeners. Nor are changes in climate solely to blame. Whoever first proclaimed our part of the world the ‘Temperate Zone’ either lived in a singularly isolated ivory tower or had an appalling sense of humour. Certainly they were no gardener. Climate has always changed and will continue to. So it behooves us to change also, modify our horticultural practices and adapt accordingly.
Diversion No. 1
Cheating. Conflict. Competition. It may sound like a soap opera but this is the complex life of the despised ragweed plant. And in a highly competitive fight for nutrients researchers have found that ragweed will behave altruistically with its siblings, investing precious resources for the benefit of the group, according to a study published in the online free access journal PLoS One.
Spring-cleaning is for the home; fall-cleaning is for the garden. In a similar manner than dirty, unsanitary conditions in dwellings encourage disease and foreshortened lives, so it is in the garden. Unraked leaves, dead perennials and annuals, rubbish of all sorts are the favoured overwintering places for innumerable garden pests and diseases.
And all of these are even harder to control now that east of Manitoba, every province has banned ‘chemical’ pesticides – and that threatens to follow with similar legislature in 2013. So it is back to some backache for, as the poet reminds us:
Adam was a gardener and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener’s life is spent upon his knees.
Diversion No. 2
Can you bite into an apple? If so, you are more likely to maintain mental abilities, according to new research from Karolinska Institute in Sweden, published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.
Despite the often-virulent discouragement from the mythographers, lawns remain universally popular. However, in past years it was easy – perhaps too easy – to cure most problems with chemical solutions. Yet in times past prior to the availability of said solutions, lawns were maintained, lush green carpets, weed and pest free. Just as with the balance of urban life, increasing attention to culture will work wonders. Mow no shorter than 1½-2-inches, water ½-inch every 3 days unless there is rain, topdress with weed-free soil or fertilizer twice a year, and hand-pull the odd weed before it can become established.
Diversion No. 3
The wife got the lawnmower, her ex the stuffed penguins, reported Brisbane, Australia’s
The Courier-Mail. They were part of a bitter divorce carve-up, which also ruled on a future school for a genius only-child whose IQ is in the Mensa range.
Once the soil freezes, it becomes impossible for evergreen shrubs to absorb more water. Desiccating overwinter winds dry the moisture-starved foliage out, leaving brown ‘winter burn’ in spring. Short of heavy rains, water evergreen shrubs the same as for lawns: ½-inch every 3 days until the ground freezes.
Hedges, both evergreen and deciduous, can be seriously damaged by salt sprayed up from municipal roads and sidewalks. On the street side, hammer in sturdy, 2-inch-square wood stakes, then staple on a screen of burlap, available at garden centres.
Once snow comes, underlying lawns may damaged by constant foot traffic compact it into ice and excluding life-giving air. Again, use 2-inch-square wood stakes and run coloured plastic twine between them to discourage access.
Diversion No. 4
If November is a slow month in the garden you might wish to take a break and head elsewhere. In Switzerland on 10 November they will be holding the Räberchilbi Turnip Festival. Looking for somewhere a trifle warmer and exotic? In Lopburi, Thailand there is the Monkey Buffet Festival on 25 November. Just like certain legislative restaurants but a more tropical location.
Plan to keep your own walkways free of ice by substituting urea or grit for the highly corrosive salt. If you have any granular fertilizer left over, this might also be substituted, or simply store away in an unheated garage or garden shed. It will not be affected by cold so long as it remains dry.
