Give plants a good drink before winter

With the recent rain, I’m able to look out my kitchen window and still enjoy color in the flower garden. Just a few weeks ago I was ready to pull flowers out and hope for the best for wintering over perennials. It’s surprising what almost two inches of rain can do.

All summer I dumped water on the beds. It takes rain to really make the color pop in the landscape.

I realize we aren’t out of the woods yet. It will take a lot more moisture to bring up our water table.

Plants need deep watering. That includes trees, bushes and perennials. Deep watering seals the roots before freezing temperatures come. All those nasty cracks in the ground let cold air in to surround roots and also our water pipes.

At our acreage, we had 10 blue spruce trees added to the windbreak. If we could have forecasted this year’s lack of precipitation we might not have planted. Instead hubby has been hauling water to them. It has been quite a job with each tree five feet tall.

He will keep at it for as long as the temperatures allow. Hopefully the water is seeping down and encouraging the roots to go down.

That also pertains to my bushes in the backyard. Some are less than two years old. They, too, need the deep watering to encourage their roots to grow downwards.

I’m waiting for an order of tulip bulbs. Once they are planted, they will need a good drink to encourage the soil to seal around them before cold temperatures.

I don’t think the plants are any different from us. How often don’t we need a good long drink of water in warm temperatures?

When you look out your kitchen window, remember to give the landscape plants a good soaking before winter. You’ll be rewarded next spring when they green up.

Until then, I’ll be looking out my kitchen window, watching the garden change to the rusty tones of fall.