Fall is here and we are now looking at our depleted vegetable gardens, spent perennials and brown lawns; our trees in various stages of color and/or "balding"! Is there anything we can do right now to help tuck them in for winter? Yup, there sure is. And in particular, new plantings.
Early in the year (2024) we had flooding, then the rains stopped and we've gone weeks/months without a nice soaking rainfall. Some homeowners have watered, some (me, mostly) have not. I do water my annual container plants and also newly planted garden areas including the one pictured below. It is on the east side of my home. I'm going to have to protect my Bush Honeysuckle (diervilla) from the bunnies that live under my porch. They are lucky they're cute and I'm not a good shot! Plants include Crabapple, Bush Honeysuckle, Mammoth mum, hosta, grasses, ajuga and annuals.
The photo below is the north side of my home and it was not the prettiest. It's about 10 ft between my house and the neighbor's driveway. I dug out, okay I didn't dig out anything but a friend with a truck and a winch pulled 3 yews out! So, now to plant something and keep in mind the dryer vent. I moved plants that I already had, basically, as placeholders for now. A spirea, hostas and sedum. The important thing I wanted was a shrub that would give me more privacy from my neighbors while sitting on my front porch, making sure it would fit into the space at maturity and the bonus of feeding the birds. I selected 'Viking' chokeberry. It grows 7 ft tall by 5 ft wide. Since it's on the western end and not as shaded by the house, it should work very well.
