Good morning and welcome to our weekly garden blog! Here in the Pacific NW things are winding down for the season as the days grow shorter and the nights get cooler. Our first frost date is usually around mid-Oct. and we have a good streak of sunny weather in the forecast so I am just getting started on my fall clean-up. First let me take you back a few months. . .
Back at the beginning of the summer we had the back fence replaced as well as new partitions between the units of our plex.
At the time we wondered if the owner was going to stain it but he did not at that time. Well he changed his mind because he realized it would look much better and it would match the rest of the fences and patios. So last weekend a team came through and stained all the new fencing. It looks really nice and the color is darker making our back area feel even more private.
Meanwhile our deck needs to be pressure washed and re-stained at some point this month so I have been cleaning up and repotting some stuff to get it ready for it’s winter nap.
I pulled down the Sun Gold tomato already as it was not producing more fruits. The few remaining fruits on the Early Girls and the one on the Atlas will have some time to ripen and even if I have to I can let them finish inside.
The perennials are mostly doing fine. I will trim back a lot of them in a couple of weeks and once the deck has been washed and stained I will secure them in a warm spot near the house where they will be sheltered from frost as well as excess rain.
My pepper plants really struggled this season between the cold, wet spring and then brutal heat. One has some promising looking flowers but too late! I am going to let it continue trying and being sheltered it may give me a fruit if the weather remains mild enough.
That being said I welcome the cool rain and falling leaves because that means the fall holidays are coming! I have not pulled out the Halloween decor yet but I did pick up a couple of fall mums to put out front!
So that is what’s going on here in my garden! What kind of fall prep/tending are you doing if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere? And what about those of you in the Southern Hemisphere? What kinds of spring garden chores are you tending?
I am on Pacific time so may be a bit late this morning to commenting but I trust y’all can behave and keep the coffee pot on for me!