Preparing your garden for Winter

The houseplants that I put outside for the summer are now back inside on the windowsill.s. Somewhere, I read that it is better to bring them inside before the night temps. go down into the 40's. I bring in begonias, scented-leaf geraniums, aloes, Boston fern, Kalanchoes, burros tail, spider plants, Jade plant, ect. Right now, the windowsills & plant stands are overflowing, but a few will die off, then more & maybe a quarter will survive the winter. I take cuttings of Coleus, root them in water, then pot them. Usually half survive. In the garden, I let everything go to seed, except weeds. The birds love the seed pods of the coneflowers & their relatives. In the really cold weather, deer will nudge around the stalks of the tomatoe plants looking for food. They will also nibble on young trees & bushes. Last night I covered a couple pepper plants & Cherry tomato plants. There was a light coating of frost on the roofs, but the uncovered tomatoes survived. But we are very close to Sandusky Bay & the water is in the 50's. Mulching will come after we have a hard freeze.

i haven't really done anything this year except to clean up the dead stalks. Sounds like you are big into gardening marianV. I am moving shortly to a house with a yard I'm looking foreward to spring!

Yesterday I raked all the leaves out of our back yard. It is a small, fenced yard that our two small dogs are free to roam. We usually keep the yard as poop-free as possible, but with the recent covering of leaves, it became a problem.

I employed the same method I used last year, which is to pull a couple of old bread bags over my shoes. That way, I can walk through the accumulated leaves with impunity, and just peel the bags off and throw them away when I am finished.

Sure, my husband laughs at me, but I have clean shoes.

LOL thats a really good idea! #3! I'll remember that!

I just ran out to snip my basil before the chilly nights would get to it first!

Amancine, I have 2 big, evil dogs - the bag is a fantastic trick! Your husband will be glad to know you're starting a trend.

My garden went to bed about 6 weeks ago, but the slugs are relentlessly eating my winter pansies. Does anyone have a suggestion for curbing slugs without resorting to chemicals?

Here are some suggestions for slug removal.

I try to keep my gardens organic, so I don't like to use most of the commercial slug baits. Cleaning up potential hiding places helps a lot. Beer works, but then you have a slimy dish full of slug carcasses to dispose of. Yech!

I take advantage of the fact that slugs are cannibals. If you keep a supply of sharpened sticks, you can go out at night and stab a bunch of slugs. Leave the dead slugs where they lie. The next night, you will find small herds(?) of slugs feeding on their deceased comrades. Makes them easy to find, and you can continue this process until the numbers are reduced to an acceptable level.

Edited to fix a typo

Thanks, Orgeon - great ideas. I think I'm going to have to stay up late one night. The slugs seemed to have realized that if they come out before 11 pm they're in peril. After 11 pm, they can feast without concern!