September Garden Tour (2023)
The leaves have finally fallen! We had a late start to summer. So naturally we had a late start to fall. Last year the snow had already fallen by now and I didn’t have a chance to rake up all my leaves which killed a patch of our grass. Not cool winter. What’s going on with the weather? Global warming? Is Jesus coming back? Something freaky is going on…
I can thank the Lord, (said in a deep, preachy voice) for providing trees with a million leaves to mulch my garden. It is quite the arm work out raking up an almost half acre’s worth of leaves but it’s so worth it. Cause I’m going to suffocate all those dang weeds (I’m talkin’ to you equisetum). They won’t dare come back. If you want to know my beef with the equisetum read this post.
I can also thank my neighbors who give me their leaves every year as well. Every. leaf. matters. I weeded each area one last time and then covered the space with a thick layer of leaves. Sadly, only one sunflower had the chance to bloom. I will have to start them inside next year. The calendula was a success as well as the snapdragons. The zinnias and scabiosa were a no show. I’ll them try again next year.
A lot of the grass and other weeds get in from under the fence. I’m hoping I can smother them with the leaves but I don’t know if the leaves will damage the fence so I might rake them back a tinsy bit.
The best way to get cheap plants is to wait until the end of the season. I was able to get heuchera for dirt cheap. I also divided our bleeding hearts and added them to this space. If the heuchera survives the winter, I’ll get more next year and create large drifts to cover more space. I moved the hostas from the front yard to the back. I’m hoping they’ll start to get bigger in their new bed. This area gets dappled sunlight throughout the day but it is mostly shaded.
After weeding next to the chicken coop, it seems the chickweed has found its way back. Luckily chickweed is easy to remove and once you do, it’s gone foreva, eva, eva, eh, eh, eh. (Rihanna anyone?)
I still have one more final leaf haul once all the leaves finally drop. Then majority of, if not all, the garden space should be covered with leafy gold. 🍁
