The fall weather is perfect! Just the past week or so it has gotten a bit cooler and we have had some nice rain. Two inches since September here. The fall colors are really showing now. And it is still an excellent time for fall planting.Â
Fall fertilizing should have been done by now. If you forgot to do it you can still do it if the plants have not gone dormant yet. If they are already in fall color and starting to lose leaves best to wait until spring.
Dormant spraying of fruit trees will be coming up soon. This will be the first of three aplications. Make sure the trees have lost their leaves before spraying. Remember “Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day as dates to remember for the dormant spraying. Make sure to spray all three times to prevent leaf curl. Use copper spray and mix a dormant oil with it. We use copper and horticultural oil from Monterey mixed together with good results. The horticultural oil helps the copper to stick to the tree. It also helps to kill overwintering insects. Be sure to soak the tree all the way down the trunk and all the branches and spray the ground underneath. Also cleaning up the leaves and any fallen fruit under the tree will also help to prevent fungus problems in the spring. The important things to remember are to mix a horticultural oil with the copper to help it stick to the tree and make sure it has time to dry on the tree before rain or heavy dew. And make sure to do it three times in the dormant season.
Now that we are in fall and the rainy season is soon upon us, be sure to break down basins from around trees that you had in place for the deep soaking during the summer. You don’t want your trees standing in water all winter.
Now is an excellent time to plant pasture seed or lawn seed. If you have an area that needs erosion control plant annual rye. The light rain and cool weather will help it sprout and it will take hold before the heavy rain and stop the erosion.
Plant wildflower seeds in November for spring bloom.
Watch for freezing weather later this month. Last year we had our first frosts around Thanksgiving. Use frost cloth over frost sensitive plants. You can put it on and leave it on. It lets the sun shine through during the day and traps that heat in over night and keeps the frost off sensitive plants. We carry it in 10′ x 12′ size. We also will have rolls 12 ft. wide that we can cut lengths off for the length you may need. It sells for 80 cents a lineal foot. It should be in this week. Probably Friday or Saturday. If you are interested in this please call ahead to be sure it is in.
Recycle your used pots here. We will take all your used pots here at the nursery so they don’t end up in the landfill. It’s good for the environment and we reuse them which also keeps our costs down which helps us keep our prices reasonable.Â
Get out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather we are having. Get the fall planting done this month while it is cool and the rain will help establish your plants.Â
Hope to see you soon.
JeffÂ
Upcoming at Bald Mountain Nursery
- Bare root berries and vegetables arrive in November. Please sign up to be notified via email when they arrive.
- Oregon stock is in which includes Dogwoods & Colorado Spruce, Rhododendrons, Mugho Pines, Pieris japonica, and erica.
- Bare root roses arrive in December. Lists are available at the nursery or request one and I can send it via email.
- Bare root fruit trees arrive the first week of January. If you wish to buy early you can pay and we will tag the trees once they arrive and call you. This way you can get exactly what you want from our list. Sorry there are no special orders on bare root items. List is available at the nursery or request it and I can send it via email.
- Fruit tree pruning clinics. Sometime in January and in February. Dates will be announced. Other clinics you would like to see? Let us know. We’ll do it.
- Don’t forget to do your 3 dormant sprayings for leaf curl on fruit trees. The dates to remember are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day. Â
