Mountain Landscaping in the Fall

Life in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina brings you four beautiful seasons. This means the ideas for landscaping in the mountains are endless. If you are new to the are you may need to look at it as an introduction to botany. It is best to give yourself a learning curve for taming your landscape. Between the beautiful evergreens covered in snow to the colorful palette of wildflower in the spring, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Since the climate in the Blue Ridge Mountains provides year-round blooms from many of the native plants. Use these as the groundwork for your landscaping. The area also provides tons of water.  It is scattered throughout the entire day in the mountains: waterfalls and streams, snow and ice, and rain and fog. All of this moisture helps to create a wide variety of plant selection throughout the year.

After the laborious months of summer and keeping your garden alive, you are ready for a break come fall. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Autumn brings about some of the hardest work of the year. Residents find themselves removing summer bulbs and planting spring bulbs, tilling up their vegetable gardens, and aerating their lawn.

With proper care and a little extra love, you can plant a variety of roses that will survive winter in Western North Carolina. Once your roses have given their last bloom for the year, clear off the dead limbs, leaving on the healthy stems. You should then bank of extra soil around the main turn to keep the plants insulated and from drying out through the winter.

• Bulbs including tulips, narcissus, daffodils, and grape hyacinth get planted in the fall.
• Allium bulbs such as shallots, garlic, onions, and scallions get planted in the fall. If already planted these plants will produce until the ground freezes.
• Plant seeds for leafy greens such as collards, arugula, leeks, kale and spinach get planted during the autumn.

The last thing you need to do to prepare for the winter is to make sure all of your gardening tools have been cleaned. Your garden chores have ended and you are waiting for the first snow of the year. Make sure your clippers, claws, and trowels have been sanitized and sharpened. Using rubbing alcohol on your tools will prevent damage to the metal and also keep dangerous pathogens from poisoning your plants in the spring. Some of the old-timers in Western North Carolina use oiled sand to clean shovels and hoes. Make sure to dry the metal and handles well. Keeping your tools clean and dry will prolong their life.

Using a 5-gallon bucket, fill it all of the way up with sand. Add 3/4 of a quart of mineral oil or motor oil to the sand. This should make the sand damp where you can easily push the garden blade through the sand. This will clean and condition the metal on your shovel, rake, and hoe.