A Little Halloween Decor

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title. -ScoobyDoo

Walking around the neighbourhood as a child, I can distinctly remember the excitement and anticipation of finding a house with the most haunted aesthetic appeal. Ignoring the "undressed and boring" neighbours, I would climb the steps in a frantic fury, hoping the candy was as good as the proposal.

Maybe this is why, as a student still living at home, I beg my mom to take part in the festivities of Halloween, hoping she'll turn our home into the dream of every costume-wearing child roaming the streets on October 31st.

**Remember- the first thing that attracts the costumers on Halloween night is the front yard and garden of your home!

Halloween Ideas for your Garden

1. Transform you haven into a graveyard (if only for a couple weeks). An important thing to remember is that halloween is ALL about lighting and a whimsical touch.

note: leaving the garden un-tended for a good month can give your future "graveyard" an even eerier look with long, unkept grass and fallen leaves.

Tombstones can be purchased at your local wal-marts, grocery stores, and even some garden centers. Caution tape, spider webs, skeletons, and shovels can add suspense and allure to your gravesite.

2. Pumpkin carving can prove to be a very easy and traditional way to attract witches, gouhls, goblins and ghosts! Picking your pumpkin is a very important part in achieving your jack-o-lantern look. You need to choose a pumpkin that will suite what you want to carve on it. Pick pumpkins that are uniformly orange (which indicates that it is ripe), as well as pumpkins which have no bruising or visible damage (bruised pumpkins have a shortened life span).

**Make sure when transporting your pumpkin that you do NOT hold it by the stem because it can easily break.

3. Halloween Wreaths (using vines from the garden!)

Using a thick, tightly wound grapevine is a perferable and cheap way to spread halloween cheer! Just wind the vines into a hoop shape and tie it off with a twine. However, grapevines are not the only vine that is useful for halloween wreaths. Bittersweet vines can also be used for halloween wreaths, providing great yellow/orange colour and an attractive peice for your front door.

4. Pumpkin-and-mum arrangement

Items needed:
Large pumpkin
Mum in nursery pot
Disposable cloths or paper towels
Petroleum jelly
Carving items for pumpkin such as a kitchen knife, jar lid or ice pick

Steps:
Place the base of the nursery pot over the pumpkin and gently score the edges of the pumpkin to mark the width of the mum pot. Cut out the top of the pumpkin using the scored edges from the width of the mum pot, discarding the cap and the stem of the pumpkin. Scoop out the insides of the pumpkin. (Note: You may wish to save the seeds to toast later.) Using the ice pick, poke four holes into the base of pumpkin. This will allow for water drainage. Gently dry the interior of pumpkin using a cloth or a paper towel. Next, spread a coating of petroleum jelly over the interior of pumpkin. This will help to keep the pumpkin from drying out and decaying quickly. Insert mum into pumpkin and keep mum moist (drying out is the kiss of death to mums).

Hope you use some of these ideas to create the eerie, festive halloween garden for those who roam your front doorstep!

A Few Ideas For Fantastic Fall Foliage

Bulb: potential flower buried in Autumn, never to be seen again. - Author Unknown

Fall Shrubs for Fall Colour
Burning Bush- Burning bushes are known for their bright red colour in the fall. The maximum height and width usually spans about 9'x9', making this a larger, deciduous bush. It has a slower growth rate, and requires full sun. It is best pruned in the late fall.

Highbush Cranberry- this shrub is a specific variety of viburnum. It is also noted for its brilliant, deep red fall colour. This shrub usually reaches a maximum of 10-15 feet, making this shrub one of the largest around. The leaf resembles that of a maple, but can considerably vary in size and shape even on the same shrub. It does best in rich soils, and also opts for full sun, however, it can tolerate various conditions. This shrub also produces small red barries, and flowers white in the spring. It is best pruned in the late fall, or very early spring.

Maples - Beautiful Fall Foliage

Flame Amur- (pictured left) - This maple is a rather small tree, with dense, finely textured foliage. Around here, Flame Amur's are usually found as a clump variety. This is one of the few maples that have fragrant flowers, that are a creamy white in the spring.


Red Sunset Maple- This variety of maple can grow an extensive 40-60 feet tall! Throughout the spring and summer, the foliage remains gree, however, in the fall, it produces spectacular red foliage. This particular maple requires full sun, and will grow at a moderate pace.

October Glory Maple- This is a wonderful shade tree, and provides almost instant shade, seeing as it is a very quick grower. It turns from a dark green leaf in the summer to a beautiful orange/ crimson red colour in the fall. This maple will not reach the same height as the Red Sunset, however it will still grow approximately 40-50 feet high.

Fall Sales!

Why are husbands like lawn mowers? They are difficult to get started, emit foul smells, and don't work half the time.- Author Unknown

Fall Sales!

Across Essex County, people are flocking to nurseries and garden centers to take advantage of sales on all plant materials. At the end of the year, nurseries will put their plant stock on sale in order to make room for storage in the winter. The more trees and shrubs they can get rid of, the better!

During the spring and summer months, garden centers provide at least a one year warranty for all plant material, however, they usually trade in that warranty in order to give you a better deal. So, if you don't have the strongest and "luckiest" gardening thumb around, you might want to consider doing your shopping in the spring!

Fall is a wonderful time to do some planting. You can plant right up until the ground freezes. However, if you are planting in the fall, do NOT use fertilizer. Trees and shrubs are preparing to go dormant for the winter, so you don't want to promote any new growth during this time.

Most nurseries fall sales are offering 40-50 percent off of their fall stock, saving you a pretty penny, and leaving you with a great sense of bargaining accomplishments!

Remember, take advantage of the sales during this time, plant material goes quickly!

Fall Mums

The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. - unknown




Annual or Perennial?


A question that is constantly being asked this fall is whether or not mums will come back every year. Unfortunately, it cannot be guaranteed that your mums will come back next year due to weather conditions and the location of the plant. However, if proper care is followed, the chances of your mum surviving through the winter and creating spectacular blooms in the fall is significantly greater!






Growing Fall Mums


The best time to plant mums is in the spring, guaranteeing sufficient time for the roots to establish. In the early spring, feed the fall mums with compost (see sept 21- importance of composting), as well as giving them a boost of fish emulsion every two weeks to help push out multiple blooms. Let them grow in the early spring, and when they reach about 12-18 inches tall, prune them back 6-9 inches so that they are half of their original length. This severe pruning will force the plant to become more dense by producing more shoots. Warning: If you neglect to prune back the mum, the flowers will only grow on the top portion of the mum, which will prevent an abundance of blooms.


The trick to growing fall mums and promoting multiple buds is to keep them in constant sunlight, as well as thoroughly watering them twice a week.





Note: Mums are one of the few plants that can be successfully transplanted (see sept 16- transplanting: a how to) while they are in full bloom, provided that it is done carefully and adequate water is given after the move.

Hope these hints and suggestions help make your fall mums the most beautiful bunch on the block!

A Guide To Pruning

Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul. -Linda Solegato

The fall season is an excellent opportunity to break out the shears! Late fall (as the plants are going dormant) and early spring (before any new growth appears) are the best times to prune!

Why Prune?

Trees should be pruned for purposes that will benefit the tree, such as: pruning to remove dead, diseased and/or damaged branches, and maintaining as well as increasing structural strength. Pruning is also important to improve a tree or plant's natural beauty, as well as to ensure an abundance of flowers and/or fruit.

note** - look out for water sprouts and suckers arising from the bases of trees, often from the understocks, or grafted, or budded trees.

Remember- Pruning may be necessary as a safety precaution- keeping traffic views open, providing clearance for sidewalks, etc.

Although pruning a tree back when being transplanted is commonly thought of as being beneficial, it can actually do more harm than good (stunting a tree and damaging root growth).

Pruning Tools!

Hand pruners- good for cutting 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch diameter branches.

Loppers- Long handled shears which are used on branches 2 inches in diameter.

Pruning Saw- May be used on branches with a diameter greater than 2 inches, however it makes a coarser cut.

Pruning: A How To

When removing a side branch, cut the limb back to the trunk or to a larger branch. Never leave a stub (it will die back and will become prone to diseases and insects). To make a proper cut, look for the branch collar- the slight swelling at the base of the branch- and the branch bark ridge- a roughened line of bark left on the trunk as the branch and the trunk grow longer. The cut should be at an angle, leaving just the branch collar. To remove part of a central trunk or main branch, choose a major side branch and cut just above, parallel to the branch bark ridge. The side branch chosen should be no less than half the diameter of the removed trunk.