My Garden is Ready for Winter
I’m a little late this year
Usually, in fall, I hack all the flowers down to about two inch stems, then clean up the debris. This way the nutrients from the rot get into the soil over the winter. In the spring I pull out all the dead stuff, turn the earth over, and plant.
This year was different.
There’s a good chance I’ll be moving next year, although the landlords said they might not put the house on the market in 2024 if the market is still like it is now, which is mixed news. On one hand, I’d like to move just to get it over with. On the other hand, an extra year of cheap rent will help us save for a bigger down payment.
Anyway, I was feeling ambivalent about preparing the garden for winter so I just kept putting it off. I figured it could just rot right where it was. Maybe it would even reseed itself, since the flowers are mostly perennials. It felt like Future Robin’s problem.
It snowed shortly before Halloween, which helped make the decision for me. I thought if the snow buries it all then it’ll be too hard to cut down, so might as well just leave it.
Then the snow melted and it’s been warm. Not terribly warm, but nice and crisp.
My garden looked absolutely terrible. Everything was brown and limp and became an eyesore.
