The dull-looking autumn garden and vegetable garden should actually become the site of a fierce battle for the next harvest these days. There is almost more work in the country now than in the summer.
Report by Viktor Averin.
For a resident of Yaroslavl, Yulia, all the fun at the dacha begins at the end of October. Whitewashing trees, of course, is difficult to feel like an artist. But this activity also requires, if not inspiration, then at least skill and accuracy. You cannot leave a single section of the trunk defenseless. Otherwise, the pests who are going to overwinter in the bark of trees, next spring, first of all, will take up the destruction of the apple trees and plums so beloved by the hostess.
Removing dead autumn grass from the lawn is only half the battle. So that in the spring it begins to delight the eye with greens as soon as possible, in the fall you need to trample it properly. But not with boots, but with special spiked sandals. The process is called aeration and besides the practical benefits for the lawn, it brings a lot of fun to the gardener.
The final chord is cabbage harvesting. Even novice gardeners know that she is not afraid of frost, so she should be cleaned almost last.
Unlike her colleague in summer cottage work, pensioner Valentina Ivanovna figured out the cabbage for a long time. Now all forces are thrown into pest control. The whole garden should be dug up so that the insect larvae that have settled in the soil for the winter are frozen.
Valentina Nekhaeva: "If we don't dig it up, we leave everything as it is, then harmful insects will multiply in the spring, there will be much more of them, and we will lose our harvest."
Every year at this time, her neighbor Leonid Andrianovich comes to visit Valentina Ivanovna and shares the latest achievements of horticultural thought directed against rodents. Anything that can attract mice to the garden - garbage and crop residues - should be removed. A poisoned bait will take their place. You can just scatter it, but it is better, the pensioner believes, to build the simplest device - a piece of roofing material rolled into a tube. One side is clogged with fallen leaves, and only then the container is filled with poison.
Winter is just around the corner for gardeners in the Irkutsk region. Here the first snow has already fallen, and one has to work in harsh conditions, which, however, cannot interfere with another important task - planting garlic.
In order for its sprouts to appear along with the spring heat, it is necessary now, despite the fact that the soil has already been "grabbed" by the cold, how to loosen the garden bed. Plant the garlic cloves in the ground, cover them with manure and wrap them with potato tops, which will act as a heater.
These wisdom of a novice gardener Tatiana were taught by wise neighbors. In other cases, she compensates for the lack of knowledge with bold ideas. One of them is to grow parsley outdoors in winter. To get a harvest on New Year's Eve, she came up with the simplest greenhouse.
Tatiana Faktorovich: "Cover with boards, then the snow will fall, lead a path here, trample and pick green parsley in winter. It is very frost-resistant, it will withstand severe frosts."
Pyotr Danilyuk from the Ulyanovsk region does not know whether parsley can withstand a 40-degree frost. His specialization is viticulture. A gentle thermophilic vine will not survive the winter without his knowledge and skills. Peter's arsenal contains a whole range of measures. Correctly cut the plant, water it, bury the root system with earth and cover with insulation. If everything is done on time and in the right way, the vineyards are not afraid of any cold weather.
Each gardener has his own recipe - how to prepare the site for winter. But the general rule is one - the more efforts are made, the more chances that the garden and vegetable garden will thank the owner in the spring.
Host: How can we properly prepare the dacha with all the plantings for the winter, Vladimir Omelchuk, associate professor of the famous Timiryazev Academy, will explain. Let's start with plants that require shelter from frost. What do they require?
Guest: Well, first of all, these are the most beloved flowers of our women - roses. Rhododendrons, a lot of heathers, which also require shelter.
Host: What material do we use? Lapnik, leaves, sawdust, peat, maybe?
Host: But if we are talking about roses, then it is very good to cover the trunk circles with 5-7 centimeters of sand. It is very good, of course, to work with spruce branches, but, unfortunately, our forests near Moscow give less and less spruce branches.
Host: And how to catch the moment so that it does not get pushed up and freeze?
Guest: Well, when the temperature gets in the range from 0 to -3, that's the best time to start covering.
Host: Do some fruit and berry bushes require shelter or not?
Guest: Well, recently we have been growing cherries, apricots, it is very difficult to cover them. So, if you really want to save everything, and there is a danger that there will be severe frosts, then it would be nice to cover for a while, say, for the period when very severe frosts are predicted.
Host: They say that one of the best covering materials is snow. How to attract him to the right place and keep him there?
Guest: Well, they put wooden shields to sweep the snow. The same branches of birch are placed so that they retain the snow. And artificially - brought from the path, cleaned the path, fell asleep.
Host: How can we protect trees and bushes from mice, from hares that starve in winter?
Guest: First of all, lay out the bait for the mice. Of course, you need to leave less herbs, especially the fruits of fruit trees, say, the same apples, pears, you need to choose them, because this is bait and food for the same rodents. The fact is that mice damage fruit plants very much, especially young ones, in young gardens. The same goes for hares. You should try to wrap everything from hares, well, at least to a height of two meters, because even if the hare gnaws young twigs, it's okay, the main thing is that it does not gnaw the trunk and skeletal branches.
Host: And what to wrap?
Guest: Recently, burlap has been used very well, wrapped with the same spruce branches.
Host: Is it possible to store seeds in a cold house at the dacha?
Guest: Yes, but if it's a glass jar.
Host: That is, the seeds should not be afraid of any frost?
In autumn, when the entire crop has already been harvested, the work in the orchard does not end. Until the site is covered with snow, there is a lot to do. How to prepare your garden for winter?
In autumn, trees and shrubs require special attention. In October, remove the remaining fruits, bury the carrion deep in the ground, carefully examine the plants and assess their condition. It is possible that they will have to be treated, since trees and shrubs must winter healthy.
Harvesting leaves
Collect the leaves carefully with a rake. If your trees and shrubs have not been affected by diseases and pests, send foliage to a compost heap or warm beds, use as mulch for wintering flowers. But keep in mind: leaves infected with scab, powdery mildew and other diseases are not suitable for this. Take them off-site and burn them.
Remember to remove the leaves from the roofs of the buildings.
Caring for fruit trees in autumn
The harvest of the next year largely depends on the activities carried out in the fall. Therefore, do not send trees for the winter in an unkempt condition.
Remove old dead bark, moss and lichens. Pest larvae like to hibernate under them, so in the spring it is important not to leave insects a single chance. Also, remove all trapping belts. Disposable (paper) - burn, and fabric - wash, dry and put away until spring.
Pruning trees
Prune fruit trees before frost in dry weather. Use a sharp pruning shears or a garden saw to completely remove dry, damaged, diseased and growing branches. Then treat the sections with a solution of copper sulfate (dissolve 1 tsp of the substance in 1 liter of water) and cover with garden varnish or oil paint.
Treatment against diseases and pests
After the leaves fall, proceed to the autumn processing of the garden. If you notice signs of mold on the trees, spray the plants with a 3% solution of Bordeaux liquid. To get rid of the causative agents of coccomycosis, scab, powdery mildew and other common diseases, treat the crowns with urea (0.5 kg of urea per 10 liters of water). Also spray the soil around the trees, only with a more concentrated solution (1 kg of urea per 10 liters of water).
Urea treatment helps to kill pests that winter in the topsoil and on tree branches
In the fight against pests, loosening the soil with a pitchfork in the near-trunk circles to a depth of 20 cm helps. After this procedure, the insect larvae find themselves on the surface of the earth and die during severe frosts.
Autumn tree feeding
As organic fertilizers at this time of the year, they use slurry diluted 1:10, compost (for trees from 1 to 7 years old - 1.5-2 kg per 1 square meter of the trunk circle, for trees older than 7 years old - 2-3 kg), ash (100 g per 10 liters of water), humus (1/2 bucket per 1 square meter of the trunk circle).
In autumn, fruit trees also need mineral fertilizers, with the exception of nitrogen, which activates the growth processes that are undesirable at this time and reduces the winter hardiness of plants. Apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizer to the trunk circle of each tree.
For trees under the age of 10 years, spend 2 tablespoons per 1 square meter of the trunk circle. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. potassium chloride. Feed trees over 10 years old at the rate of 4 tablespoons. superphosphate and 2 tbsp. potassium chloride. Feed cherries and plums with 3 tablespoons. superphosphate and 2 tbsp. potassium sulfate, diluted in 10 liters of water. Use 4 buckets of this fertilizer for every mature tree.
Abundant watering
It is important that the fruit trees do not dry out for the winter. If the fall is not rainy enough, water the soil well in the near-trunk circles. During the water-charging autumn watering, spend about 50 liters of water on an adult plant. Water the trees in stages: about 12-15 liters per hour. The soil should become moist to a depth of about 1 m. At the same time, keep in mind that the water temperature should be 5 ° C higher than the outside air temperature.
After watering, mulch the tree trunks with peat, spruce branches, humus or compost. This will help retain moisture in the soil.
Autumn whitewashing of trees
To protect trees from pests and spring sunburn, whitewash the trunks down to the base of the lower skeletal branches. Use a ready-made whitewash (sold in garden stores) or prepare it yourself: dilute 3 kg of lime and 500 g of copper sulfate in 10 liters of water.
Autumn whitewashing of the garden is carried out in October-November
Protecting trees from rodents
Hares and mice love to feast on the bark of fruit trees in winter. Rodents can cause serious damage to plants, especially young seedlings. To prevent this from happening, wrap the trunks to a height of 50-100 cm with nylon tights, roofing felt or cut plastic bottles.
Shelter grapes for the winter
Grapes are a rather whimsical culture, therefore, they require special care in the fall. After the foliage has fallen, cut the vine, treat the bush with a 3% solution of ferrous sulfate, then cover the grapes with spruce branches, reed mats, straw or other materials for winter shelter of plants.
Preparing shrubs for winter
In autumn, remove unnecessary shoots, diseased, dead and old branches from berry bushes.
Cut over the bud, which is directed outward of the bush.
Moreover, in black currant cut all branches older than 5 years old at the root, red and white currants cut branches over 8 years old. This will allow young shoots to start growing faster in spring. To make the bushes better overwinter, after pruning, feed them with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer (for example, use 1 tablespoon of superphosphate and potassium sulfate for each plant).
Bushes gooseberry in the fall, 30-50 g of double superphosphate is fertilized (applied to the ground to a depth of 7 cm) and 20-25 g of potassium sulfate under each bush. For digging, you can make 2-3 tbsp. ash on the bush. The bushes are cut in the fall every year, after they reach the age of 6. All dry, diseased and unproductive branches are subject to removal. Root shoots are cut as they grow back.
On the bushes summer raspberries Cut out all the branches that have matured, diseased and thickening the bush. Leave only healthy annual shoots. If necessary, bend them to the ground to help the plants overwinter. Branches remontant raspberry cut close to the ground (but you can also do this in early spring).
Raspberries can be effectively fed with rotted manure (6 kg per 1 sq. M of soil), diluted chicken droppings (1:12), as an alternative, you can use double superphosphate in an amount of 20 g per 1 m of a row of raspberries.
Now you know how to prepare your garden for winter and take good care of fruit trees and berry bushes. We hope your green pets will winter safely and will give you a good harvest of tasty fruits next season.
Now is the very beginning of autumn, the whole crop has not even been harvested from the site yet. But you may not believe that in order to ensure the next season's harvest, it is time to start preparing the vacated soil for future beds. And this is not a joke at all: it is necessary to prepare this soil not anyhow, but correctly, so as not to be disappointed in the harvest of next year. How to prepare the beds, how to properly dig up and apply fertilizers for the most common vegetable crops right now, we will tell you today.
Autumn preparation of the beds in the garden. © Charles Dowding
It is clear that the formation of the aboveground mass, the formation of a crop that we harvest, consume or store, leads to the removal of various elements from the soil. First of all, it is the well-known nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. So, immediately after harvesting and when preparing the beds for the new season, it is advisable to make up for the deficiency of these elements in the soil, although it is not visible to the naked eye.
The autumn period is almost an ideal period for applying various kinds of fertilizers, which during the winter time will "reach" the soil, and the plants sown or planted on the beds we have made will begin to consume them already in an accessible form, and not wait until they turn into such, wasting precious time on their development and forcing us to wait longer for the harvest.
For example, organics and various minerals: in fact, any vegetable crops perceive and react to them in a purely positive way. However, in order for the root system to perceive this or that element, it must already be in an accessible, dissolved form, and this takes time. This is exactly the time that winter is.
Of course, when choosing fertilizers, you need to take into account a number of factors - this is the biology of the culture, which in the future will grow in this place, and the type of soil (heavy, sandy soil, black soil, and so on) and even the weather conditions at a given time, which determine including the condition of the soil.
So, there is enough reasoning, we go directly to the rules for preparing the beds in the autumn period for the next season.
Why prepare the beds in advance?
This question is often asked: after all, there is spring, when you can have time to prepare the beds, and sow seeds, and plant seedlings. Yes, it is absolutely true, but, firstly, not all fertilizers will have time to go into a form accessible to plants, as we said above, and secondly, spring is such a fleeting period that in fact, you can simply not have time to do everything, as necessary. Remember the Russian proverb in the words of a peasant peasant: "Drop your hat in the spring - I won't lift it" (that is, so busy).
On top of that, if we prepare the beds for winter in the fall, think for yourself how much we will ease the spring worries: all that needs to be done is to loosen ready-made beds, make holes for planting seedlings or furrows to sow seeds, and start carrying out the usual procedures related to seedlings or seedlings, without rushing anywhere and without being late.
In what sequence should the beds be prepared?
The first step is to clear the places of future beds from weeds and plant residues and burn them outside the territory of the site, although if they are without signs of disease, then it is quite possible to lay them in a compost heap, and then apply as fertilizer for digging the soil and, if necessary, then add chalk or lime along with fertilizers to bring the pH back to normal.
You need to clear weeds as thoroughly as possible, all creeping weeds, wheatgrass with parts of its root system and dandelions just need to be excluded (uprooted) from the garden in all possible ways, they should not be there, no matter how much effort you spend on it.
When the soil is free of weeds and plant residues, that is, it is in its pure form, it can be enriched with the elements necessary for each plant - these are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Since nothing will grow on these beds in the current season, urea (20-25 g per square meter), superphosphate (18-20 g per square meter) and potassium chloride (15-20 g per square meter) can be added. ). In this case, you should not be afraid of potassium chloride, since chlorine will be neutralized until spring and will be safe for plants. In addition, it is advisable to add well-rotted manure at 5-6 kg per square meter, or humus (3-4 kg per square meter) and wood ash (stove or soot) at 250-300 g per square meter of soil.
If the soil of your site is heavy and clayey, then it is necessary to add river sand in a bucket per square meter, preferably interspersed with compost in the same amount, this will increase the looseness of the soil and enhance its fertility.
Sandy soils poorly retain moisture and nutrients, here it is necessary to add a bucket of clay per square meter, as well as well-rotted compost (5-6 kg per square meter), leaf humus (3-4 kg per square meter) and sawdust (a bucket per square meter). Be careful about sawdust - they can acidify the soil, so you need to use the most gray, that is, almost rotted sawdust.
Acid soils, where the acid-base balance (pH) is below 6.0, must be lime or chalk. If the acidity is below 4.5, then lime should be used at 200-250 g per square meter, if the acidity is from 5.5 to 4.6, then chalk: add 250-300 g of chalk per square meter.
Naturally, fertilizers, chalk, and lime - all this in the autumn, when preparing the beds, is brought in for digging, by initially scattering it over the surface and then filling it up by digging onto a full bayonet of a shovel.
How to dig up the beds?
Usually, there are two main options for digging the soil - this is a dump-free method and a moldboard. Let's start with the non-moldboard method of digging. With the moldless method of digging, they try to do so that the earthen lump for the most part does not break and turn over. The purpose of such soil digging is to maximize the preservation of the beneficial microflora of both the lower and upper soil layers. Clods of earth also do not break.
With the dumping method of digging, lumps of soil turn over and break. Usually, the second option is often used when preparing the beds in the fall. Thus, we embed fertilizers deep into the soil, and with them chalk or lime, if necessary, and literally pull out the wintering stages of pests and diseases to the surface.
In this case, it is undesirable to break up clods of soil, because in this case the soil will freeze to a great depth, disinfecting as much as possible. But if you decide to prepare a full-fledged bed with clearly delineated edges and in the spring do not care about breaking up clods, then it is better to bring the digging business to the end: break up the clods, level the bed and make, by filling layers of soil when digging on top of each other, a bed a couple of centimeters higher soil level, so that as a result, the soil on it warms up faster than on the rest of the site.
Preparing the beds in the fall. © lasercuttingmachine Preparing beds for certain crops
So, we talked about how to prepare the garden as a whole. There is nothing difficult in this: we free the site, apply fertilizers for digging, try to dig up the bed with an increase in the soil level, thus outlining the edges of the future bed, but this is in general. It seems to us that we also need to tell about how to properly prepare a bed for the main crops, which certainly are in every garden, beds for them can also be prepared in the fall.
Beet beds
So, in order for the dining room beets to grow well, you need to choose the most illuminated area, where the soil is light and well-drained. Ideally, of course, in the fall, the beet bed should be cooked on sandy loam and loam with neutral acidity. On heavy soils, clayey, for example, beets will grow poorly even with enough food. You should also avoid places where melt, irrigation, rainwater accumulates for a long time, and, of course, acidified soils.
The best precursors for table beets are crops that leave the site early - cucumbers, squash, early potatoes, early sweet peppers and eggplant, and again early tomatoes. Do not sow table beets after spinach, rapeseed, carrots, chard and cabbage.
In the fall, when preparing the soil for beets, it is advisable to apply organic fertilizers, for example, compost or humus in the amount of half a bucket per square meter of the future garden. From mineral fertilizers, it is quite possible to add potassium chloride in an amount of 12-14 g per square meter, as well as ammonium nitrate and superphosphate at 22-25 g per square meter.
Next, we prepare a garden bed for pumpkin and zucchini
You need to know that these crops are generally unpretentious and just remarkably react to various fertilizers contained in the soil. Manure can be applied under them, but well rotted and in the amount of 3 - 4 kg per square meter of the garden, no more, of course - for digging.
As for the choice of location, the soils must be neutral, therefore, if acid prevails, then chalk or lime must also be added for digging.
The best predecessors for pumpkin and zucchini are considered: potatoes, onions, cabbage, root vegetables and legumes, but the worst are considered to be cucumbers, zucchini and squash.
Pay special attention to the soil, so if the soil is clay, then, as in the general preparation of the garden, half a bucket of humus and a bucket of river sand per square meter should be added under the pumpkin and zucchini for digging. As for mineral fertilizers, 10-15 g of superphosphate, 250 g of ash and 15 g of potassium sulfate is enough.
On sandy soils on which you decide to grow squash and pumpkin, add a bucket of clay and half a bucket of humus per square meter.
Dill and other greens
To get a good harvest of dill and other greens, you first need to deal with the predecessors. Good predecessors for green crops are: cabbage, tomatoes and onions, and bad ones are parsnips, celery and carrots.
Further, try to choose the most well-lit garden bed in the fall, and, therefore, the most heated one. Ideally, the soil should be made as fertile as possible and try to keep snow on it by throwing it with spruce branches. Do not forget to pay attention to the acidity of the future bed, green crops grow poorly on acidic soil, therefore lime and the introduction of chalk for digging, subject to high acidity, are necessary.
For green crops, the preparation of the garden in the fall is not difficult, the digging depth should not be very large, only 22-23 cm. Be sure to add 2-3 kg of well-rotted manure per square meter and 15-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 8-10 g of potassium sulfate and 10-12 g of superphosphate for the same area. In the spring, it remains only to loosen the finished bed, make grooves for sowing, be sure to water them (2-3 liters of water per meter) and compact them slightly before sowing in order to prevent the seeds from sinking (a couple of centimeters of depth is enough).
Preparing tomato beds
Tomatoes - their best predecessors are: beets, cucumbers, onions, beans, carrots, various greens, peas, corn and zucchini, and the bad ones are potatoes, late cabbage, peppers and eggplants.
We figured it out, now let's pick up a plot for tomatoes before it gets cold. The best will be fertile soil, it is enough to dig it up, and if it is acidic, then lime it (150-200 g per square meter), but with fertilizers, in particular superphosphate, which tomatoes adore, you can take your time and just scatter it over the surface of the soil without digging. By the way, tomatoes react very jealously to the level of acidity and the dose that we indicated may not work on different types of soils. For example, if you have sandstone or loam on your site, then it is better to add 250 g of lime for digging, and if medium and heavy loams, then 350 g of lime and also for digging.
Do not make too high beds for tomatoes, do not forget that they are tall plants themselves, so 22-23 cm is quite enough and about a meter wide, no more is needed either.
Autumn preparation of the soil in the garden. © Vesna Maric Cucumber beds
Well, cucumbers, because you are unlikely to find an area where cucumbers do not grow, but only tomatoes or cabbage. The best predecessors for cucumbers are: tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, onions, legumes, spinach, rhubarb, early and cauliflower, beets, carrots and greens, but the worst are: cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, melon and watermelon.
Ideally, in the fall, the garden bed should be made so that it is light, preferably loamy or sandy loam. If only clay and heavy soil is available, then add a bucket of river sand per square meter for digging. By the way, cucumbers grow well on slightly acidic soil, so if this is the case with you, then you should not worry.
The beds for cucumbers must be dug up onto a full bayonet of a shovel with the introduction of 5-6 kg of well-rotted manure.
The subtleties of feeding warm beds in the autumn
In the autumn, you can build a warm bed, first you need to knock down a box from the boards, usually a meter wide and two meters long, put a layer of drainage in the base, it can be, in fact, any large debris, for example, various branches, pieces of boards, stumps , tops of plants. You can sprinkle all this with river sand, sawdust, chips, weeds, peelings of potatoes and other vegetables, you need to put leaf litter, humus on top and scatter wood ash. Of course, the layer must be such that fertile garden soil (20-30 cm) fits on top, in which vegetable crops will grow in the next season.
A few words about mulching
Questions arise whether it is necessary to mulch the beds prepared in the fall, the answer will be yes. In principle, mulch, if it is made of natural components (the same leaf litter pressed by spruce branches), then it will not in any way affect the vital processes of beneficial microorganisms in the garden bed you have built. Therefore, in the spring, after removing the mulch, the bed will look even fresher. The main thing is to remove the mulch early so that the soil warms up faster.
This article will focus on the work that needs to be done in the garden in the fall to prepare the garden for winter.
Preparing the soil for winter begins in the fall
Every gardener and summer resident should dig up empty beds by the next season and nourish the soil complex. In the autumn, you can prepare the beds for planting and save the roots from frost with special fertilizers: horse manure, mullein, bird droppings, compost, ash, urea, phosphorite flour, etc.
In addition to superphosphates, which are mandatory introduced into the soil complex in the fall, recharge is also needed, which is also contained in the following dressings:
Horse dung- organic fertilizer for greenhouses, orchards and vegetable gardens, which increases the resistance of crops to diseases and makes the soil fertile. For 1 m2 of soil, you will need 3 kg of manure. Such "food" will enrich the soil with potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients until spring comes. You can add horse manure in the autumn to empty soil for all fruit plants.
Bird droppings- it must be taken out dry after digging up the beds. Such fertilizer cannot be used annually, as it is caustic concentrated organic matter. Once every 3-4 years will be enough.
Ash- the best option for loamy and heavy soils, otherwise there is a risk of potassium leaching (from sandy soils, for example). Usually this type of fertilizer is used in the spring, but in the fall you can burn the tops from the harvest harvested in the fall in the garden, and this will be useful. This top dressing contains much more potassium than wood ash. As a result, you get a rich complex of magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper and sulfur. About 200-300 g of ash per 1 m2 will be enough if you mix it with manure beforehand.
Compost- after harvesting, it will be necessary to eliminate weeds and cover the soil with a continuous layer of compost without digging it up. This method is effective for the future harvest of potatoes, for example, or early vegetables. And to nourish and protect the roots of fruit trees in the garden, it will be necessary to lay out the compost in a thick layer and only in the spring to loosen the trunks.
Mullein- fertilizer available to every summer resident. In its fresh form, it is better to scatter it over the beds in the fall, so that all ammonia compounds disappear during the winter. You will need 5-6 kg of mullein per 1 m2. Do not forget that during the winter about 20-30% of useful nutrients will lose their properties, so it is better to mix mullein with compost.
Urea- stays in the soil until spring, if the soil is heavy. An ideal nitrogen fertilizer for both ornamental plants and vegetables. A granular, translucent or milky mass dissolves in the soil gradually, nourishing the roots of plants for a long time, contributing to their rapid growth.
Potassium sulfate- a balanced fertilizer for gooseberries, currants, strawberries and raspberries. By mixing it with phosphorus or nitrogen fertilizers, the effect will be better. Then no frosts and severe frosts will be terrible for these bushes. It is enough to add 30 g per 1 m2.
Peat- will insulate and fertilize the soil in the fall. Before pouring the peat, it must be sieved and mixed to prevent the ingress of any larvae, dung beetles, white-green caterpillars and wireworms.
Calcium chloride- it is enough to add 20 g per 1 m2, so that your apples and pears give more fruits.
Autumn is coming and every gardener is preparing to carry out the maximum number of cases that will bear fruit in the spring. It is important not only to harvest, but also to prepare the beds, store vegetables, and carry out autumn work in the garden. In the article we will tell you about the most important work in the country, which should not be forgotten in September.
In the garden, as in the garden, you need to perform a number of activities:
- prepare trees and shrubs for the winter period;
- apply the necessary fertilizers;
- make a series of landings, which in the next season will please us with high results.
Everything takes time. Therefore, do not stretch the pleasure, let's get started.
Preparing trees and shrubs for winter
- In September, it is early to do pruning of garden trees, the formation of shrubs. But it is worth complying with sanitary standards. Remove broken and dry branches. Treat the cut sites with either garden varnish or a mixture of clay and manure. Do not leave open areas. Insect pests will definitely take advantage of your negligence.
- If leaf fall has passed (depending on the region of residence, this is observed in some areas), do not try to remove the foliage. Only burn litter if it has been affected by pests or disease. Leaf litter will act as an organic fertilizer if it is decomposed in a near-stem hole. In addition to laying under the crown of a tree, fallen leaves are also suitable for a greenhouse, greenhouses or a compost heap.
- You can whitewash the trees. Why are trees painted or whitewashed? In winter, the sun heats up brightly and sometimes damages the bark. Cracking occurs after freezing. In order to prevent the influence of the sun's rays in the winter and spring seasons, it is worth protecting the bark. Whitewashing is carried out with lime. Some experienced gardeners add Ecogel and Farmayod to the solution. The drugs have a bactericidal effect and protect the trunk and skeletal branches from infections. If you know how much, then add sulfur. This substance will scare away rodents.
- Spray the bushes and trees with the following drugs: Bitoxibacillin or Lipidocide. For any processing, remember about the trunk circles. If the remaining insects, thanks to your actions, remain on the ground, they will certainly seize the moment and return to the tree.
Fertilizing and watering
- Fill the stem circles with water. Spill liberally, especially if no more watering is expected. By rehydrating the roots, you will keep your trees and shrubs hydrated for a long time.
- Apply fertilizer. If you need to reduce the acidity of the soil - dolomite flour, if there is not enough organic matter - compost or humus. Minerals are recommended to be applied in the spring. Do not feed trees and shrubs with fresh manure. It contains gases: ammonia and propane, which do not fertilize the soil, but cause irreparable harm. Microorganisms and worms do not live in such land.
Vermicompost must be prepared from fresh manure... Spread the valuable fertilizer on an allowable area 20 cm high. Pour with water, then with M-preparations, pierce with a pitchfork and cover with straw or sawdust. The future fertilizer will begin to breathe, steam will flow. The formation of beneficial aerobic bacteria began, and the decay process started.
When the gases evaporate, the unpleasant odor disappears, and the mass acquires an earthy color - your fertilizer is ready. It is in this version that it is safe and even useful for your land. Can be applied both under trees and in warm beds.
Autumn work in the garden (video)
Autumn planting in the garden
Most summer residents are adherents of autumn plantings. What can you plant in September?
- raspberries;
- currants;
- gooseberry;
- fruit trees: apple, pear, plum, quince, sweet cherry;
- garden strawberries.
The main thing when planting in autumn is to act according to agricultural technology.... Process the seedlings, properly prepare the soil, spill the earth. Some plants require sheathing with sheeting or spunbond. September is a good time for planting. There are still no active frosts and temperature drops.
Preparing a vegetable garden for winter
There is more trouble in the garden in the fall than in the garden. It is necessary to collect vegetables, clear the beds of weeds, prepare the soil for the next season. But we are practically experts! We will act thoroughly!
Harvesting and preparing for storage
Vegetables that need to be harvested in September last longer. In most cases, gardeners are favored by warm and sunny weather. It is possible to collect dry roots and avoid rotting processes. When picking vegetables, be sure to dry them in the sun for several hours., shake off excess soil, sort: large - small, whole - injured.
Collected in September:
- carrot;
- beets;
- potato;
- cabbage;
- and a number of other vegetables, depending on the timing of their ripening.
To ensure their long-term preservation, it is worthwhile to provide boxes, preferably wooden. Lay the roots in rows: small at the bottom, large at the top.
Some summer residents sprinkle carrots and beets with sand. Do it or not, you decide. On the one hand, the sand retains moisture, and the vegetable does not deteriorate longer. On the other hand, there are many harmful bacteria and microorganisms in the sand, which cause a rapid decay process if an injured root crop is caught.
How to cover plants for the winter (video)
Cleaning the garden in autumn
- The first step is to get rid of the remnants of cultivated plants. If they were sick, we burn them. Only necessarily in an old barrel or other metal container, but not on the ground. Use ash as fertilizer in the spring.
- We clear the garden from grass. In September, not all weeds bloom, you can catch it if you haven't done it in some areas.
- We spread rotted manure, peat, compost prepared in advance in the beds - the future fertilizer for plants.
- We disinfect the territory of spring plantings. You can use a solution of potassium permanganate for processing: 10 gr. for 100 liters of water or baking soda: 1 heaped tablespoon for 10 liters of water. Spill thoroughly. Use Fitosporin in the second step. Follow the instructions.
- Change the soil in the greenhouse and greenhouses. Do not want to change - use bleach: 150 gr. by 1 m 2. Such processing is enough not to remember about it for three years.
- Remove the drip irrigation system so that it does not freeze. Remove thermostats from greenhouse doors and windows.
Planting green manure and feeding
Oats, white mustard, rye are widely used in the country. If you have sandy soil on your site, you should not use rye. She will dry up the earth. It is better to sow it on clay and loamy soils. White mustard, on the other hand, is perfect.After 20 - 25 days, you can mow the tops of useful herbs with a flat cutter or a hoe, and embed them in the ground. Not worth digging up. Siderat roots make a great treat for underground residents: worms and other insects. Eating the lower parts of the plants, they will process them into vermicompost. You will get a double benefit: organic fertilizer from tops and loose soil from decay products.
In addition to planting green manure, you can mulch the ground. Suitable mulch:
- rotted sawdust;
- hay;
- straw;
- compost;
- peat;
- humus.
What is the use of mulch in the fall, you ask?
- You will provide the land with natural organic fertilizer.
- Mulch will act as a barrier for melt water to drain, which in spring wash out the top fertile layer of the earth.
- Winter plantings can be preserved under such a “blanket”.
Provided that they grew in your garden in summer and autumn and pleased with flowering marigolds, use them as fertilizer... Grind as much as possible and dig up the ground. When planting flowers in the ground, remember that they will save your future plantings from nematodes, wireworms and the Colorado potato beetle. Marigolds have a frightening aroma. Many insect pests cannot tolerate it and leave such places. This fertilizer will make your site healthier.
Dry some of the "orange" ones. In the spring and summer of the next season, you can make an infusion of them and spray on cultivated plants that are susceptible to the influence of onion flies, aphids, whiteflies and pest butterflies.
Autumn planting in the garden
What can be planted in the fall before winter? Often these are root crops. Having prepared the beds, you can sow radishes, carrots, beets, onions, garlic in the fall. This should be done before the first frost. Use mulch or spruce branches. If the frosts in your area of residence are severe, prepare a covering material. For planting before winter, carefully select the planting material, disinfect it and, only after the above procedures, plant it in the ground.
Autumn work in the country in September: what else is worth doing
In the fall, at the dacha, many gardeners are engaged in business, the results of which will be seen only in spring or summer next year:
- clean, sharpen and sanitize inventory
- carry out minor repairs of garden houses: whitewashing, painting
- repair fences, hedges, gates, utility rooms
- canning vegetables and making jam
- dried apples and pears, grapes and plums
- cleaning greenhouses and household premises
- lay compost heaps
They try to have time to complete as many things as possible, so as not to be distracted in the spring, and to prepare for the winter. They do not postpone until tomorrow what they can accomplish even today. After all, springtime is completely different chores: sowing seeds for seedlings, grafting, fertilizing, preparing plants and planting them and many more worries for a hardworking summer resident.
What fertilizers to use in the fall (video)
Having done all the work, gardeners can breathe a sigh of relief and a sense of accomplishment. The harvest has been harvested, the land has been prepared, and sanitary measures have been taken. All that remains is to drink a cup of green tea with the neighbors, say goodbye and go on a well-deserved winter vacation. After all, there are three working seasons ahead, a new harvest, pleasant chores, sun and good mood.