Looking Ahead | A Note from Rick Bogusch

As we harvest the last of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, we turn our attention to those cool weather crops that started the season back in early spring. Upcoming harvests will mostly be plants and seeds planted and sown in July and August, like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, chicories and lettuce, but some will be from seeds sown recently like spinach and arugula. We’ll make our last sowings of spinach, arugula and radish in mid-October.

This year, we’re experimenting with hoops, tunnels and frost blankets to extend the harvest season for greens, turnips and radishes. With protection from the elements, some crops, like spinach, will even overwinter and provide an early crop next spring.

October is good month to plant containerized or balled and burlapped trees and shrubs, as well as pots of perennials and grasses. We just planted 6 American hollies in the woodland garden and will start on planting the rest of the nursery ASAP. Now is also a good time to divide perennials to rejuvenate or increase numbers or give to friends.

This month is usually when we begin cutting back the gardens and pulling up spent plantings. For Bridge Gardens, it is a long process, stretched over the next 3 months. Many plants, native and not, are still in bloom or still have interesting textures and colorful foliage or look good as a dried plant in one of the many shades of brown. Many perennials, coneflowers and hyssops, for example, have seeds relished by birds and are best left standing until they fall over. The dead leaves and stems of those plants also provide places for insects to overwinter. Though we eventually remove dead plant material from the gardens, we don’t remove it from the property, thus preserving the homes of overwintering guests.

Though it may sound like the season is over, that is far from the case at Bridge Gardens.

There’s still much in bloom, especially in the herb garden, and fall fruits and foliage are yet to come. That means, it’s time for a visit and I hope to see you here soon.

Happy Fall Gardening!