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As predicted, a reminder of summer heat has returned. We had a lovely period of False Fall, though.
A couple of weeks ago at the Fall Gardeners’ Festival in Crossville, several of us attended a session by Lucas Holman called “Falling into Winter: Fall Gardening Tips and Tricks.” I was happy and relieved to hear him assure us that cleaning up spent plants from our fall gardens was a good practice. For a number of years, the more popular stance requires leaving flower stalks, leaves, etc. to provide food for birds and shelter for insects. Lucas reassured us that, while this is true, our ‘25 square foot garden will not determine the survival of an entire species.’ He also noted that if the plants are not healthy, leaving mildew spores, black spot and other plant diseases until spring will not be advantageous. An additional disadvantage to leaving seed heads is having way too many seeds sprouting all over the place. I was happy because, while I have tried leaving the mess over the winter, I find that spring cleanup and reset is more time consuming and the stalks are just ugly all winter. In other words: neat freaks have good reasons to clean up, just as others can happily leave it until spring for the birds and insects. It’s okay!
Remember: no formal meeting in September. See you all the 4th Thursday in October.
Beth Hannabass, President
RCMGA
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