chores by month

IALWAYS SAY THAT MAY IS MULTIPLE-CHOICE MONTH, but in 2012 I’m renaming it Mayhem Month, since that’s what it feels like after the hot-windy-dry-then-frozen April From Hell. It will be mayhem getting the garden ready for open days and workshops and such that begin in less than two weeks (you coming?), but here’s the to-do list I’m using as my guide to get me there: [read more…]

APRIL IS THE MONTH that gardeners in much of the country wait for, and then we freak out when it arrives. Cleanup! Pruning! Seed-sowing! Division! Transplanting! Fertilizing! Chaos! (In 2010, my April even included “Mow!” for the first time in 25 years here; the same was true in 2011. This year, who knows, after 80 and 22F in the last week of March. Maybe I’ll be mowing by April 15 instead of April 25?) Oy! The lowdown: [read more…]

IALWAYS CALL MARCH IS IF-AND-WHEN MONTH: I’ll do things on this list if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and the muck it leaves behind starts to drain off and dry. If and when. This year: no frost in the ground, but finally some snow to close out February and start March, meaning a slight delay on some of these tasks you can read in print, or listen to in podcast—your choice!): [read more…]

I AM TEMPTED TO POST THE APRIL CHORES today instead of February, after waking up to near-50 degree temperatures yet again in this wacky nonwinter we’re having here. I could certainly get out and start fruit-tree and grape pruning, raking and ornamental grass cutbacks…and without a coat or gloves, even…but first, some planning is in order. [read more…]

AND AWAY WE GO: Admittedly, January may be one of the quietest outdoor gardening months of all here in the North, and perhaps in most every part of the country. It’s prime time to assess the winter garden and plan additions, and with the influx of catalogs and fruit-tree-pruning season coming into view, I’ll manage to stay busy. The current chores list follows—in print or in podcast. [read more…]

WHAT MONTH IS THIS, I keep wondering? It snowed in October, it was September-like in November, half the seed catalogs have already arrived, and this might be the latest ever that I’ve had the frogpond plumbing still bubbling away. The long-range forecast on NOAA rates my area as “EC”—meaning equal chances of above- or below-average weather—but I think at this point, it’s time to do the last of the chores or maybe get caught short. One of the year’s easiest to-do lists: [read more…]

LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW, I feel silly posting the November chores—well, except for “shovel snow,” maybe, or “pick up branches if the snow melts” and “prune off hangers in damaged shrubs and trees.” But what say we pretend, since most of you are not in a similar winter wonderland—yet? The usual directive for November: Get the place cleaned up before really harsh weather says “stop.” I just hope I haven’t missed my opportunity with certain chores. When (if?) conditions allow, I’ll focus on a few key items first—perhaps you have your own your November “musts”? [read more…]

IWOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SAY that I am already at work on my fall cleanup over here, but I have the rain to blame. The compost wants sifting and spreading—but it’s sodden. The grass wants mowing short—but it looks like a wet meadow. The first fallen leaves want raking—but they’re plastered to the ground. Of course, these soggy situations don’t mean I get a pass; I’ll just have fewer days to get it all done if and when the forces stop conspiring. My “as soon as it stops raining” list—also known as October 2011’s chores—follows: [read more…]

TYPICALLY THE SEPTEMBER CHORES would be following the hottest, driest part of my garden year here—the summer—and I’d harp on about making sure to water your trees and shrubs right through when the ground freezes. I think with more than 7.5 inches of rain falling here on Saturday-into-Sunday alone, I might skip that step, and get on to the rest of the month’s chores, starting tomorrow with—yes!—weeding instead. [read more…]