The following article was originally published in 2008
You
can say without hesitation that Indian summer occurred last week. I was mowing in shorts! And sweating! It was one of the
warmest stretches of autumn weather I can remember. The sad part is I knew it wouldn’t last. But we managed to get a
few things done during the heat spell; I dug up an old tractor tire planter, and Maureen was in shorts as she worked taking
out part of the front flower bed. I’ve been collecting leaves and she uses them as a mulch topping. A layer of old newspaper
and cardboard went down first, then the leaves and grass clippings. By next spring, the paper, cardboard, leaves and grass
will be nothing but decomposed soil amendments and that spot, and the spot where the tractor tire used to be, will be ready
for new plantings.
If you’re wondering, Indian summer refers to a stretch of
sunny, warm weather in autumn, usually occurring after the first frost, but before the first snow. Only this time we got the
snow first, on Wednesday, October 29. Did you mark that date on your calendar? I didn’t. I was too upset thinking winter
had arrived early. But thank goodness for Indian summers. According to information I gathered from several Web sites, the
phrase “Indian summer” can be traced back to the 19th century during England’s reign over India.
At the time, it was mistakenly thought the term was referring to the Indian subcontinent when in fact it was Native Americans
(it is not related to the summer season in India).
The first recorded use of “Indian summer”
is from a letter written by a French-American farmer in 1778: “Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive
the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness,
called the Indian Summer.” St. John de Crevecoeur the farmer was also a writer living in rural New York and was probably
more in tune with weather than we are today.
In order to officially (a misnomer) determine if a true (another
misnomer) Indian summer is occurring, or has occurred, temperatures must remain above 70°F for one week after the autumnal
equinox. The autumnal equinox took place on September 22, but I don’t think we had seven straight days with temperatures
above 70°. One major requirement that’s already been met is a first frost. Regardless of not meeting the seven 70°
days requirement, I’m calling it an official Indian summer. If only I could make it last through winter!
Preparing a new spot for flowers is not that complicated if the area isn’t too large. And now, when leaves
are everywhere, why not use them for something besides the landfill? Old newspaper is also readily available, and as long
as you don’t use the glossy ad sections, it’s perfectly safe to use it for smothering grass. Your layer of newspapers
should be about 10 sheets thick and you’ll need to overlap the ends as you go. Of course this is a task that shouldn’t
be started in windy conditions, and you may find it necessary to wet your newspapers with the garden hose if it’s breezy.
If you have old empty cardboard boxes, flatten and use them as well.
Once you have your layer of newspaper down,
mulching over all of it is the next step. This is where the leaves come in. I’m not advocating the use of carbon emitting
mowers and choppers, use them to grind your leaves if you like, but I’ve found it’s really not necessary. By the
time spring arrives, everything is mostly decomposed anyway so why waste extra energy mowing and chopping leaves? Put down
a 5 or 6-inch layer of leaf mulch over the newspapers, after this last step, go ahead and spray some water over the entire
area. The only thing left to do is wait for spring.
Gardening Tips
- Perhaps you’ve
seen the infomercial for “Aqua Globes,” the “automatic houseplant watering system.” They’re
bulb-shaped glass globes with a long tube, you fill it with water, insert the tube end into your pot, and the globe
automatically waters for up to 2 weeks. You’ve heard the adage, if something seems too good to be true, it probably
isn’t. If you’ve tried this product and it works, let me know.
- Get your bird feeders up, and
provide fresh water too.
- Roses require special attention before winter sets in. For grafted roses, use a
good mulch around the bud union to protect it. For own-root roses, cover the base of the canes and surrounding near-surface
root zone with 2 - 3 inches of mulch.
- Cut the tops off your asparagus plants and add a winter dressing of
aged manure to the bed.