December To Do List . . . .

Clean the air, indoors, and you’ll clear you mind, improving concentration. NASA studies have chosen the following plants as top air purifiers: bamboo palms, Boston ferns, dwarf date palms, English ivies, gerbera daisies, peace lilies and rubber trees.  Indoor plants help to remove such pollutants as formaldehyde, odors from paints/stains/varnishes, adhesives, particle board, ammonia and alcohol.

Remember that if your area has experienced strong winds, without rain, you may need to water your gardens and trees. Follow the weather reports, concerning any possible freezing temperatures, and drain hoses, and keep water off of walkways / driveways.

When cold weather threatens get out there and water your beds thoroughly. Well hydrated plants will be better able to deal with a cold snap.    

Gather remaining leaves for the compost pile and for a light layer of winter mulch on beds.
One inch of organic matter on top of the soil in a garden bed is adequate for most gardens.  Two inches is better. Three inches or more is not  as productive.  If your leaves are piled too high, water can be trapped, preventing moisture from reaching the soil.  The reverse is also worth considering: too much around the base of trees can hold moisture around the trunk, leading to rot and disease. Raking leaves off the lawn is a good idea, and may save your turf. In the rest of the garden use the two inch rule.

Bird seeds and suet cakes with a high fat content will keep the birds warmer.  Provide small levels of fresh water for them, too.  (They can’t drink ice.)

Birds will also enjoy clusters of hanging grapes or cranberries strung together hanging on a branch.

Leave dried flowers, ornamental grasses, and seed heads that look good and provide food for birds.

For the home gardener, wood ash is a great source of lime, potassium and trace elements, containing most of the 13 essential nutrients the soil needs for plant growth. As wood burns, nitrogen and sulfur are lost as gases, but calcium, potassium, magnesium and trace element compounds remain. The carbonates and oxides remaining are valuable liming agents, raising pH, thereby helping to neutralize acid soils.

Know the pH of your soil before adding too much wood ash. Where soils are acidic and low in potassium, wood ash is beneficial.  Use wood ash on flower beds, lawns and shrubs. The exception is our acid-loving plants such as blueberries, rhododendrons and azaleas.

The fertilizer value of wood ash depends on the type of wood you burn. Hardwoods such as oak weigh more per cord and yield more ash per pound of wood burned. Hardwood ash contains a higher percentage of nutrients than ash from softwoods such as Douglas-fir or pine.
One-half to one pound of wood ash per year is recommended for each shrub and rose bush. Spread ash evenly on the soil around perennial plants. Rake the ash into the soil lightly, when soil is dry, being careful not to damage the roots. Never leave ash in lumps or piles, because if it is concentrated in one place, excessive salt from the ash will create a harmful environment for plants.
Our weather over the last month has been very mild.
Because of that, many roses in our Zone 8 have not gone into dormancy . . . yet.
If your roses are vulnerable to high winds, consider protecting them with a vertical wrapping of burlap or a landscape fabric.
If they take a whipping by the wind, in can damage the crowns and canes of the plants.
Remember that the pansies you've planted like to be fed.  Use care and refer to weather conditions in your area.  We never want to promote new growth when the chance of a freeze is pending.  

*Pansy photo by Cadence 2012*