YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER | 2020

Greetings from Birch Meadow,

What a glorious year for fantastic fungi! After all of the rain we’ve been having, we’re delighted to find abundant mushrooms everywhere. This variety was in a client’s forest garden, and I was able to identify it in the Southeast Mushroom Field Guide as Cortinarius Caperatus, or Gypsy, a favorite edible of many mushroom hunters. As always, be 100 percent certain of identification before consuming anything you find in the forest! We value you and want to make sure you stick around.

On another note, winter will soon be upon us in earnest, so please be sure to bring your potted plants in and keep an eye out for frost warnings so you can cover sensitive outdoor plantings.

Enjoy the Fall, ya’ll!

THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN IN NOVEMBER

• Here is a link for things that should have been done in October, just in case you are still catching up!

• Click here for Central NC Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs.

• It’s time to plant and transplant trees and shrubs.

• As the weather cools and you have ashes from indoor and outdoor fires, fertilize your vegetable garden, bulb beds, and non-acid loving plants if soil pH is below 6.0 with wood ashes. You can get a pH reader on Amazon for $10. It should have a list of non-acid loving plants. (Never spread ash without first checking your soil pH. It is far easier to change acidic soil than it is to change soil that is too alkaline.)

•  Plant one-year-old asparagus crowns in the vegetable garden this month and trim existing asparagus foliage to the ground after foliage is killed by frost.

• Finish planting spring-flowering bulbs.

• Cut back and clean up frost-killed perennials.

• Prune out older canes on blackberries and raspberries.

• Order fruit trees and grape vines this month for a February or March delivery and planting.

• Remember to water your evergreen trees and shrubs thoroughly before winter set in, particularly if weather conditions have been dry.

•  Fill your compost bin with unwanted fallen leaves.

OUR NEW PARTNERS - COMMUNITY BASED LANDSCAPERS

We are delighted to announce that we’re contracting with an incredible and powerful group of men, yes, men to help us with our bountiful work load. Community Based Landscaping (CBL) was founded by William Elmore “Mecca” and Edward Scott “Scott” who have “spent a significant amount of time hoping and praying and imagining what a “second chance” at life would look like. In their former lives, they contributed to the deterioration of communities. Their contrition has inspired them to change their narrative. Just as they have been given a ”second chance”, they give back to communities by way of their work with CBL.

A large part of their work involves mentoring struggling teens and guiding and assisting justice-involved and recovering adults. These folks accompany them on landscaping jobs, where they connect with the healing properties of the earth while learning new skills and doing meaningful work.

We are aware that some of our clients chose Birch Meadow Garden Care because we are a team of women. If you wish to continue to be served just by the original female team (sometimes including our sons), please reach out to Mary Beth and let her know (marybeth@birchmeadowgc.com or (919) 224-9697).

If you have heavy labor or lawn work, ie jobs that Birch Meadow doesn’t typically do, including tree removal, aerating, mowing, blowing, pressure washing, gutter cleaning, leaf/snow/ice removal, sod installation, retainer walls, or debris removal, please call Mecca at CBL directly ((919) 864-2175) and work with them independently.

PLANTING BULBS

Fall-planted spring-flowering bulbs are some of the toughest plants around. They have stored energy in the bulb to produce the root system, then foliage, and flowers for the spring. With the right site selection, planting, fertility, and a little water to get them started at planting, they will not disappoint in the spring. According the NC Cooperative Extension, the major bulbs planted in fall for spring color are tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. Remember that most tulips (excluding the species tulips) give a grand show the first year, but may not flower again. If they do, the show is not dramatic. Many gardeners choose to treat hybrid tulips as annuals in the garden or plant species tulips that flower repeatedly. Spring bulb flowering season is from mid-February to mid-May, depending on local weather conditions. Height ranges from 6 inches to 3 feet. Colors vary widely.

READ MORE

The Extension Master Gardener program of Chatham County, in conjunction with Brent and Becky's Bulbs, is holding a fall bulb sale to support the Cooperative Extension Service's sustainable gardening education programs in Chatham County. Participation is easy.
LEARN MORE

Master Gardener℠ volunteers of Chatham County recommend the following bulbs for years of spring color in our area – all are available on the Bloomin’ Bucks site:
Crocus tommasinianu - Tommies
Ipheion uniflorum – Star Flower
Leucojum aestivum – Snowflake
Muscari neglectum – Blue Bottles Grape Hyacinth
Narcissus/Daffodils
Tulipa clusiana – Lady Tulips
LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE BULBS

PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS FROM SEED

After last month’s newsletter article about seed packets available from Spikenard Farm & Honey Bee Sanctuary, Mary Beth would like to share with everyone what she has learned about planting native seeds over the last couple of years:

1. Native seeds often have a low germination rate, about 20-30%.

2. Many take a very long time to emerge in spring and are teeny tiny at first.

3. Because of their low germination rate and diminutive size, it's hard to tell them apart from the weeds at first.

4. Squirrels and other animals like to dig around in soil that has been prepared for them.

Option one: This option is the most complicated, but will end with the greatest number of plants and varieties:

1. To cut way back on the number of weeds and to make it clearer which plants are actually the ones emerging from your seeds, sow the seeds from each packet into a pot filled with garden soil purchased from the store.

2. Place the pots outside in a spot that gets plenty of sunshine.

3. Keep them damp, but not wet.

4. Be very patient! Some of your seeds may not emerge until well after spring has fully sprung. Don't give up on any of them until July 1. Some will come up sooner and be more prolific, others will be very shy and/or only a few will germinate.

5. Protect the pots from squirrels by placing a "box" made of a wood frame and chicken wire over them. We can help you by building one the right shape and size.

6. Plan to transplant your babies once they start looking crowded in the pot. You can transplant to separate pots so they have a little more time to grow before putting them in their planned bed, or you can just put them directly into their planned bed and be vigilant about weeds.

Option two: Put a thick layer of sand on the ground where you want your seeds to germinate, plant your seeds, keep them watered and hope for the best. The sand will subdue the weeds and the seeds will eventually get their roots safely down into the ground. It's very important to be vigilant about watering with this method as sand tends to dry out more quickly than soil.

Option three: The final and simplest option is to just rake your seeds in to the spot where you want them to grow and let them surprise you. You will get the smallest number of plants this way, but it is easiest and there are usually a few brave souls that make it to adulthood.

A SMARTER FALL CLEANUP

We now know that an overly aggressive approach to cleaning up in autumn can damage the environment. So what’s a responsible gardener to do?

In the fall, it used to be you cleaned up every last leaf like mad. It was considered good garden sanitation. But now we know otherwise: That’s bad for the environment, killing beneficial insects that love all the leaf litter, which keeps them warm during the winter, and interrupting the food web.

If we arm ourselves with power tools and aim to skip no section of the garden and leave no debris behind, we risk making a place that’s too tidy for the good of its inhabitants. Part of the environmental benefit of making the landscape in the first place could be erased. Except in the vegetable beds, where pest and disease pressures call for a more forceful hand — or where the remains of a sickly ornamental plant may need teasing out here and there — when it comes to cleanup, less is often more effective.

So how do you make a responsible plan that acknowledges both ecology and your horticultural goals? Maybe it’s better to think of fall garden cleanup as an editing job — not some wholesale, wall-to-wall regimen like vacuuming the living room.

Becca Rodomsky-Bish, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Margaret T. McGrath, a Cornell plant pathologist (both serious home gardeners beyond their day jobs), shared advice about how to proceed.

READ MORE

ATTACK OF THE KILLER JUMPING WORMS

It’s more accurately known as the Asian jumping worm, and scientists refer to it as Amynthas agrestis. It can jump a foot to avoid a compost bin and it wiggles nicely on a hook at the end of a fishing line. It also has such a large appetite for decaying vegetation that it can eat its body weight every day, so it’s great for composting. It’s no wonder that fishermen and gardeners love it so much. However, the Asian jumping worm has set a new standard for forest floor destruction. It plows through the forest floor, eating all the leaf litter in its path, leaving no place for creatures like salamanders and millipedes.

Keys to jumping worm identification include:

• Look for soil with a similar appearance to coffee grounds. As jumping worms eat and excrete waste, the soil gets a unique texture like coffee grounds.

• A light-colored ring that extends around the worm’s body and may be more prominent than in other earthworms.

There are no known methods for controlling invasive earthworms on a large scale in natural settings. Chemical treatments that would kill earthworms would kill beneficial soil organisms as well. Jumping worms live near the top of the soil surface and in the leaf and mulch layer. You can hand collect worms, seal them in a bag, and dispose of them in the trash. This may help reduce the amount of jumping worms at your site.

We have spotted these prolific rascals on a current client’s property and are taking precautions to clean our tools as we always do with alcohol.

READ ARTICLE 1, READ ARTICLE 2

PESTICIDE COLLECTION DAY

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in cooperation with the NC Cooperative Extension – Chatham County Center, will be offering a Pesticide Collection Day for residents in Chatham County and surrounding counties on Tuesday, November 10th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center in Pittsboro. Nearly all pesticide products will be accepted. For liquid pesticide containers larger than five gallons or for unlabeled pesticides, please contact the Cooperative Extension office for more information before bringing to the collection event. No gas cylinders will be accepted at the event; however, assistance information can be provided. Please note that all in attendance will be expected to follow CDC guidelines for social distancing and wearing of face masks to safeguard community members. Please contact the Cooperative Extension Office for more information at (919) 542-8249. Don't miss out on this opportunity in Chatham County!

We hope you all stay well and enjoy the beautiful unfolding of autumn.

If you would like help tending your established garden or installing a new one, please let us know! Click here for Maintenance Policy & Pricing.

The Birch Meadow Team
Mary Beth, Kelley & Jared, Barbara & Cole, Karla, Liz, Yvonne &
Community Based Landscaping
919-224-9697

Newsletter by Calypso Design, aka Barbara