The potted plants looked a little ragged - a product of a long, hot summer and end-of-summer neglect. Time to face the sad fact that summer is over. So, I lined up the pots and started deconstruction.
By this time of the year, the plants are pot bound. The soil is a thick mass of roots. I used a CobraHead Weeder to cut through the mass then pulled out the plants.
By this time of the year, the plants are pot bound. The soil is a thick mass of roots. I used a CobraHead Weeder to cut through the mass then pulled out the plants.
Sometimes I just roll the pot to the dirt pile near the compost bin, cut off the plants and dump the pot. I discard the empty aluminum cans I used as filler. (I remember that I enjoyed emptying some of those cans during the hot planting days of May.)
Then toss the plants into the compost bin.
All that was left was to store the pots, canna tubers and plant caddies in the garage for the winter –
and dream of next year’s combinations.
.
Ah yes, there is always next year to dream about.
ReplyDeleteI'm always somewhat sad at this time of year - anticipating dark days and cold winds. But it is also a time to step back, read, learn and plan for next year's garden. As I clean up, I continue to make notes of what needs to be moved, removed, pruned, added or changed in the garden. I should be ready to go by early spring!
ReplyDeleteAnother post filled with your hard work. Do you put different kinds of plants in the pots every year? Coleus gets better and better as the growing season moves along.
ReplyDeletedonna
Donna,
ReplyDeleteI use coleus every year because they DO get better as the season moves along. Other than that I use a left over annuals that don't have room in the garden. Sometimes I dig up some self seeding annuals or perennials and use them. I also use the left over cannas for the "thriller". It's fun to mess around with the combinations each year.
The hardest pots to plant are the ones that will be in afternoon sun. They dry out quickly and even sun-tolerant coleus will fry. I'm trying to come up with a combination for sun for next year. I plan to us creeping sedum for the spiller. That's as far as my thinking has gone. I've used zinnias before so that may be part of it. Don't know. Any ideas?