Gardening with Laurie:
Fall Planting
By Laurie Brown Reader Columnist It’s September, and the gardening season is winding down. Time to start putting things to bed, raking leaves, and… planting. Yes, planting. It’s the perfect time of year for getting many plants in the ground. Cooler temperatures mean less wilting of plants and of gardeners. Rains mean less hose wrangling for you. Fall tends to be less demanding as the weeds are tapering off, unlike in spring when they are exploding. And a lot of garden centers have sales on plants now, trying to get inventory down for less work through winter. You can plant up to six weeks before the ground freezes; cold air temperatures are fine as long as the plants haven’t been kept warm in greenhouses. Everyone is bringing out the spring blooming bulbs right now; it’s actually a tiny bit early for planting them. You don’t want warm soil to spur top growth; you only want root growth from them. But you want to be getting perennials, shrubs and trees in now, so that they get their roots dug in and settled before cold shuts them down and frost heaving starts. You can help prevent heaving 18 /
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/ September 1, 2016
on late plantings; I’ve taken rocks and put them on the root ball to hold them down—this also helps keep deer from pulling them up. But it’s still better to get them in early. This is a good time for dividing and transplanting spring bloomers, too; they’ll be ready to bloom next year if divided now. But leave the late bloomers like asters alone; divide them in spring (of course it’s all right to plant potted asters now). And it’s the best time for dividing and planting peonies. They won’t bloom next year, but they will get a good start. Potted plants frequently are root bound when bought at this time of year. Make sure to loosen the roots; unwind circling ones and spread them out. If the plant has lots of fine roots making a “block” of root mass, take a sharp knife and shave about a half-inch off the root ball to expose new little growing tips. Add aged compost to the hole, and plant at the same level it was at in the pot. Cut back tall, floppy plants and remove dead flowers. Do not fertilize, except for phosphorus (which soils in our area usually don’t need). You don’t want any tender new growth on
the top of the plant! Make sure plants are kept well-watered up to planting time, and water deeply when you plant them. In fall, all plants need deep watering if rains are not regular and heavy. It greatly increases their chances of surviving winter. Write down what you plant where or make a map—frost heaves the plastic tags out of the ground at least half the time and they go wherever plastic tags go when they disappear. Do not mulch plants until after the ground freezes. The idea is to insulate the frozen soil so it does not go into freeze/thaw cycles and heave the plants out. A heaved out plant is prey to both dehydration and exposure to lower than 32º F air temperatures. When there is no snow on the ground, take a walk in the garden, check for heaved plants, and gently replace them. If you buy some plants and have to wait a bit before planting, DO NOT bring them into the house or garage. Keep them out in the weather that they will have to live in. They need tough love.
-GUEST OPINION-
LPOSD School Plant Levy By Tim Henney Reader Contributor Somewhere amidst the impressive barrage of school levy letters to the editor in last week’s Reader an advocate wrote that Sandpoint is “not just a town full of retirees and second homeowners” opposed to paying for better public education. That’s partly true. Sandpoint is full of old fogies like my 1957 bride and me. But many of us believe passionately in paying higher taxes for improved school facilities. Fellow fogies I know feel that few needs are so urgent or obvious as quality public education. We might be labeled the silent minority, except that it sounds too much like Tricky Dick Nixon’s “silent majority.” Those were folks who, In the early ‘70s, thought Henry Kissinger’s Vietnam war was patriotic. My bride and I, both college graduates, have three kids in their 50s, all college grads. We have two grandkids in their late 20s, both college educated and in post-graduate programs. More apropos, we have two Sandpoint granddaughters, ages 11 and 6 who, “the Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise,” as some cowboy singer sang, are college-bound. More critical to that goal than the good Lord’s willingness or rising creeks, however, is leading-edge public education. Including safe, up-to-date buildings. Top of the line facilities to match our top of the line faculties. For some, getting a college degree is a family thing—a given from infancy on. Other contributive, productive Americans earn it through brains or brawn, or both, in pursuit of the good life. Some seek a degree because it beats the alternative—being drafted or working for uncle Bubba’s dwindling squid boat business when one’s life interest is poetry. If a profession is part of the plan, college is of course a prerequisite. Others enter the halls of ivy mainly to land a mate. Or to have fun trying. For all the above, and equally so for millions of youngsters who annually enter the work force after high school, a comprehensive education is essential to a constructive, happy life. Teachers are role models. Together with math, English, history and other life enrichments, teacher role models convey self con-
fidence, responsibility, thoughtfulness, civility. The stronger the school system, the better the teachers and role models. Teachers get paid peanuts for these things but they do them anyway. Obviously more valued by American society are gold-plated entertainers, professional jocks, hedge fund tycoons and corporate fat cats. But who would you rather your children be spending their days with: Sandpoint school teachers or Donald Trump? Admittedly, some of us curmudgeons performed our most demanding civic responsibilities earlier, when younger, in other places. Serving on college and church boards, helping start a nature education center, stoking a community’s interest in recycling, producing Broadway musical fundraisers, heading a United Way campaign, chairing construction of a small town tennis complex—these my bride and I have done elsewhere. Other local elders have similar resumes. In Sandpoint, in our dotage, we relax, admire and appreciate the civic efforts of others who have the steam we once had. Short on steam or not, Sandpoint duffers continue to contribute. My bride and I, for example, are dedicated local shoppers. That helps (at 81 she has never been in a Walmart. She deserves a medal). We dine regularly in downtown restaurants and buy clothes from downtown retailers (occasionally we do these things in Bonners Ferry, Hope and Clark Fork when we feel the urge for major road trips). For years we’ve moored boats at local marinas. We buy snowblowers, garden tractors, cars, books, appliances, kitchen remodels and groceries not from oafish loudmouths who blabber their bullshit on TV, but from Sandpoint and Ponderay providers. We think this is important, necessary, vital. It helps keep our community solid. And proud. To that end, after three full decades of retirement we vigorously support public education. And paying our share to keep it up to speed. There’s really no other responsible option if one loves one’s kids. And their kids. And if one hopes to perpetuate our communities, and our civilization, as we know them.