Gardening Insights for the Mohawk Valley (Zone 5)

“Corn and grain, corn and grain, all that falls shall rise again.”

In October, the Central New York color wheel turns to yellows, oranges and reds as the leaves change with colder weather. The chlorophyll that makes them green exits and their underlying colors come out. Sweaters and jackets are seen on dog walkers and gardeners may be observed to have a little extra blush on their cheeks. Descending temperatures portend the coming inside season for gardeners, although there is still a decent amount of outside time left.

At the beginning of the month, water your gardens deeply several times. At the end of the month, take in your hoses and empty anything with water that can freeze and expand. In our area, the first hard frost can hit as early as the middle of the month, so get ready to empty your annual pots (unless you want to overwinter flowers like your geraniums inside). Yes, mowing (to shred), blowing or raking of the fallen leaves is here. Instead of tossing the leaves you can spread shredded leaves in the gardens. The smaller pieces add nutrients to the soil as they decompose. Over the leaves, add an overcoat of a couple inches of mulch if you want to keep the water you gave the garden in and protect sensitive plant roots.

Now is the time to clean all your garden tools and store them for the winter, and carefully take in and store the garden decorations.