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Tag: Jessica Damiano

  • Doing these fall garden chores will make your spring easier

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    We tend to think that fall is when the garden winds down, and spring is when the work begins. But there are several chores that, if completed now, will make your spring job much easier.

    For starters, pulling up weeds by their roots in the fall will dramatically reduce their reappearance when the weather warms up again. I’m practically addicted to a long-handled tool called Grampa’s Weeder, which makes easy work of the task.

    While you’re at it, thoroughly rake beds and borders where fungus, black spot or mildew diseases emerged this year. This will help prevent the pathogens from taking hold in the soil and infecting next year’s plants. Dispose of the leaves and debris in the trash.

    Other disease-preventing measures include removing shriveled, “mummified” fruit from tree branches, and disinfecting tomato cages and plant stakes before storing (use a solution made of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water, or spray with a household disinfectant spray and allow to air dry.)

    Clean, sharpen and oil tools now so they’ll be ready when you are. There’s little worse than heading out to plant your new seedlings only to find your spade has rusted over the winter.

    Protect your trees and property

    If you planted new fruit trees this year, install protective guards around them to prevent mouse and rabbit damage. I’m partial to coiled-plastic trunk wraps, but mesh, wire and higher-end metal tree surrounds are also highly effective.

    For safety’s sake, examine tree branches now, and remove any that are split, dead or broken, lest they rip off during winter storms and threaten people and property.

    Prepare for new beds

    If you’re planning to start new beds next year, save yourself the back-breaking labor of digging up the lawn (or the money spent on renting a sod cutter) by smothering the grass over winter.

    Define the future bed and cover the area with large pieces of cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, using landscape staples or rocks to hold it in place. Then, cover it with a few inches of mulch or compost.

    The cardboard may be entirely decomposed by spring, but if not, just leave it in place and dig planting holes right through it.

    Clear out the old beds

    Clear out spent vegetable beds, then lightly turn the soil, incorporating compost, well-rotted manure and, if indicated by a low pH test result, lime. The amendments will work their way deeply into the soil by spring, enriching the root zone to give next year’s crops a natural, nutritional boost.

    And for an early-spring gift to yourself, don’t forget to get flower bulbs (and garlic!) into the ground. The longer you wait, the bigger the risk of delayed blooms, but you can keep planting them as long as the soil is soft enough to dig.

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    Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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  • Transform fallen leaves into valuable leaf mold for your garden this fall

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    There are a lot of leaves outside my window, and I’m guessing your view might be similar. This carpet of dead foliage is often viewed as a nuisance, but it can be an important component in the garden.

    I’ll push a 3-inch (7.6-centimeter) layer of them into beds and borders to serve as root-protecting and insect-sheltering winter mulch. When they decompose, they’ll also add nutrients to the soil, which will fortify my plants in spring.

    Others will make it into the compost pile, which, along with food scraps, weeds and spent annuals and perennials, will cook into what we gardeners call “black gold.” But there’s another use for fallen leaves that might have escaped your notice: leaf mold.

    The benefits of leaf mold

    Simpler than compost but similarly beneficial, leaf mold contains only one ingredient — leaves. It helps increase moisture retention in sandy soil, improve drainage in clay soil, regulate soil temperature and suppress weeds when applied over the soil in beds and borders.

    As far as nutrients go, compost wins, but leaf mold is no slacker. It supports earthworms, beneficial insects and soil microbes, and boosts the health and vigor of plants.

    Nearly any type of leaves can be used to make leaf mold. Smaller ones, like beech and maple, break down in just a few months, whereas larger, thicker leaves, like those of oak, can take as long as two years.

    Avoid using black walnut leaves, which contain a chemical called juglone that is toxic to some plants. Although fully composted black walnut leaves are generally safe to use, the compound might persist in leaf mold, which doesn’t age as long.

    How to make leaf mold

    Before making leaf mold, you’ll have to decide where to contain it. You can enclose leaves in a chicken-wire surround, pile them into contractor-grade, black plastic trash bags in which you’ve poked a bunch of holes for air circulation, or place them in an ordinary compost bin.

    Regardless, add leaves lasagna-style, alternating with a sprinkling of water and, optionally, a light application of nitrogen fertilizer, which serves to speed up the process (ordinary lawn fertilizer will do).

    Check the leaf pile every couple of weeks and water as needed to keep it lightly moist.

    In spring, it should resemble humus, the dark, crumbly, nutrient-rich organic matter that serves as a protective layer on the forest floor.

    Spread your leaf mold throughout your beds and borders as you would mulch or compost, and add some into the potting mix in your containers. It will release nutrients into the soil that will benefit your plants throughout the growing season.

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    Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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  • Grow fruit trees in small spaces with the trick known as espalier

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    If you’d love to grow fruit trees but think you don’t have the space, think again. You don’t need an orchard or even a large backyard to enjoy garden-picked fruit.

    Instead, use a method perfected by Louis XIV’s gardeners back in the 1600s at Versailles, when cold, windy winters, not a lack of space, inspired them to train trees to grow flat against walls. Their goal was to use the masonry as a windbreak and insulator, but the method they called “espalier” also made excellent use of a tiny footprint.

    The trees’ form maximized their exposure to sunlight, and also enabled the trees to withstand chilly temperatures better than their untrained cousins. Surprisingly, perhaps, they also produced more fruit.

    Which trees are good for espalier?

    This undated image provided by Missouri Botanical Garden shows a mature espaliered dwarf Moonglow pear tree in the Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. (Tom Incrocci/Missouri Botanical Garden via AP)

    Most trees with long, flexible branches, such as apple, cherry, fig, peach, pear, plum and quince lend themselves nicely to the espalier method. Even ornamental trees like magnolia, firethorn and witch hazel are good candidates.

    The name “espalier” comes from French, indicating something to lean a shoulder against, as the trees lean on their supports.

    But the 17th century French didn’t invent espalier; it is believed to have been practiced in the Middle Ages and even as far back as ancient Egypt. The Versailles gardeners, however, gave the method a name — and fame.

    How it works

    Training an espalier tree requires equal parts pruning and patience. You remove undesired branches and coax the remainder to grow sideways by affixing them to walls or fencing with wires or frames until they submit to the process and adapt to the pattern.

    This 2025 image provided by Planting Fields Foundation shows a free-standing espaliered pear tree at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, N.Y. (Planting Fields Foundation via AP)

    This 2025 image provided by Planting Fields Foundation shows a free-standing espaliered pear tree at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, N.Y. (Planting Fields Foundation via AP)

    Trees will send up shape-spoiling shoots that will continually need to be clipped, but the desired branches will take longer to establish.

    To accelerate growth, apply a dose of high-nitrogen fertilizer (look for a ratio of 12-4-8 or 16-4-8 on the package label) three times per season — in mid spring, early summer and late summer.

    Don’t expect flowers or fruit during this stage, which can take several years. The point of the fertilizer is to force the trees to direct most of their energy on growth, not production.

    When the tree has achieved the shape and size you desire, switch to a fertilizer specifically formulated for fruit trees and cut down the frequency to just one application per year, in spring, following the dosage recommended on the package. (If growing a non-fruiting tree, seek out a product intended for the species).

    The method, however, can lead to increased pest and disease problems, as growing a tree pressed against a wall will restrict air flow around it. So be sure to monitor trees closely, and address issues quickly if they arise.

    All that TLC will pay off with a beautiful, living garden sculpture –- and a great story to tell as you await your juicy harvest.

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    Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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