Falling Back

It's surprising to me how much I love autumn considering it means winter is just around the corner.  The garden doesn't do much this time of year other than look a little brown and dormant.  Holly bushes will usually look attractive and should have bright red berries that will last through winter.  It's worth having a few evergreens like the holly scattered among the perennials if you still spend some of your time outdoors this time of year.  At least have a few evergreens around the foundation, especially near the front door. 

Ambitious gardeners will be harvesting their last crops before the first frost, but this gardener is tired by the end of summer.  If the leaves are rakes and the lawn mowed, I consider my obligations done.  Fall is a great time to rearrange those plants that need to be moved.  You can also move plants in the spring, which some gardeners prefer, but you need to be diligent with the watering if you move them in nicer weather.  Moving plants in the fall means not having to water them after transplanting unless it's an usually warm fall and the ground dries out. 

Despite my lazy autumn asperations, I will take the time to clean and wash the bird feeders so that they can be kept filled through the winter.  Not only for the birds, but for the clever chipmunks and crafty squirrels as well.  This year I noticed a remarkable lack of acorns despite the many oaks in the neighborhood.  And while some consider squirrels as just another city rodent, I do worry about them in the winter and whether they can find enough food.  So if I see no acorns, I will be even more diligent about the bird feeders. 

 

 

Natural sources of food for birds and squirrels is also a really good idea. The flowering crab in front of our house attracts a lot of pretty birds, like the robin pictured here.  By the first snow the branches are most often bare.