if the grass is still

15 - Friday, November 4, 1988 — North Shore News

LIFESTYLES

growing,

gardeners must keep mowing

THE BEST thing to do during the month of November is
curl up beside a warm fire with a bottle of wine, good
company and the buttons for the television converter.

That’s it! See you next week.
Thanks for reading me. Bye.

Ouch. The little woman just
gave me a shot in the ribs.

Either she didn’t like the way I
was trying to skip out on
November’s yard work or she
shows great animosity toward my
buttons.

1 guess there are a few things we
should take care of before return-
ing to couch-potatodom.

Here are but a few:

Lawn Care — I generally
recommend liming very early in the
spring, and those of you who have
mildly acidic soils could wait until
then. This will assure the best use
of the nutrients and soil sweeteners
that dolomitic limestone can pro-
vide.

If you are one of the unfortu-
nates whose lawn is extremely acid
or you have not limed in several
years, don’t wait for spring — do
it now.

If you are not sure, pick up an
inexpensive PH test kit at any
garden centre end test your soil. A

What place has 3
million sheep?

| Question:

rniilion people and 50

reading of 5.0 or lower would sug-
gest an urgent need. As always, use
only dolomitic lime.

If the grass keeps growing, keep
on cutting. As I have stated on
previous occasions, the longer the
grass is kept over the winter, tne
more likely you are to have pro-
blems with mould and mass.

Rake up the leaves as they fall.
If left on the ground for more than
a few days, the turf will begin to
die back. Because we are at the end
of the growing season, it will not
Tegrow until spring. By then you
will have a well established moss
problem and a thin, patchy lawn. ©

Fiower Beds — Your annuals
should be long gone by now. If
they are not, do it now because the
decaying plants ‘vill only help
spread insects and disease. Replace
them with winter pansies or
flowering kale or cabbage.

You also should have stzrted
planting your fall bulbs.

Try to get them in before the
end of the muath. If you leave it
any later, you risk snort-lived

ANSWER:

986-6699.

{fordable Quality since 1.907

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mu

.

displays or, possibly none at all.
Whether you are or are not

planting bulbs, apply liberal

amounts of bonemeal to your

flower beds and work .« into the
soil.

Bonemeal is the best organic
supplier of phosphorus, potassium
and calcium which will produce

strong roots, next year’s flowers
and sweeten the soil to boot.

Continue dividing and thinning
your perennial plants over this
month.

Plants such as irises, peonies,
day lilies, etc., will benefit if they
are lifted and thinned periodically.

Use the resources of your local

] YOUR LANDSC

Sait. 9:00-5:00
Sun. Noon-5:00

Open Mon-Fri. 8:00-5:00

library to help you with timing and
procedures for your particular
varieties.

Vegetable Beds — Cleanliness is
next to godliness. If that’s true
then godliness must be pest free
because that’s what happens when
you keep your vegetable garden
clean.

over the

garden gate

Geoff Tobiasson

Don’t leave winter retreats for
bugs and disease to hide away in.
Remove old plants and any other
debris in the area.

Green manure (no, not the stuff
you step in) is the best way to
rebuild the supply of organic fibre
in your soils.

Crops such as fall rye or vetch

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(bright yellow awning) }

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are best. Sow vetch at the rate of
one Ib. per 600 square feet and fall
rye at one Ib. per 300 square feet.

Let your crop reach knee height,
then turn it into the soil and allow
it to compost in the ground.

Add bonemeal at an approx-
imate rate of one pound per 150
square feet before digging in your
crop. This will round out the supp-
ly of nutrients and help to lower
the acidity level.

Once again, dolomite lime
should be addcd now if your soil is
excessively acid.

Those areas that are to grow
next year’s cauliflowers, cabbages,
broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and/or
kohlrabi, should be done even if
only slightly acidic. This will help
to prevent the appearance of club
root.

Do not apply lime to those areas
designated for next year’s
potatoes; to do so could promote
the appearance of scab.

Trees and Shrubs — The old
adage ‘‘Prune when your shears
are sharp’’tells us that pruning can
be done at any time of the year.

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