Capitalizing on the Perfect Fall Weather
This recent weather has been, well, simply wonderful--at least for gardeners.
First, there was the rain that thoroughly soaked everything, washing the dust and dirt of the city from leaves and paving, followed by puffy clouds and Southwest sunsets that bathed the garden in a golden glow.
Then came the crisp, clean wind out of the north with just a hint of pine on its breath and startling blue skies that threw another light on the garden, a low slicing light as sharp as a razor.
It has been fall weather at its finest, a real treat after the smog and sultry weather that came earlier, and it establishes a pattern of weather that will continue into spring. Seasoned gardeners try to take advantage of it.
For instance, if they hear rain is coming, they find the time to get some things planted, and if the rain does indeed arrive as promised, they can watch it water the new plants and settle the soil, feeling very satisfied if not downright smug.
On the clear days that follow the rain, they can tackle projects that require digging, like digging fence post holes, rejuvenating the soil, or even plowing new ground, because moist soil is the only kind to work in. In a sandy soil, this opportunity may come the next day; or three to four days later in clay soil. Each day, they test by plunging a spade into the ground to see if it has reached that magic in-between state where it is neither too dry nor too wet--when the soil simply crumbles as it falls back to earth, and doesn’t stick to the shovel.
If rain is followed by a drying Santa Ana, the surface of the soil can immediately look dry, but don’t think it is too late to dig it. Just an inch or two down it is probably quite wet or at least moist.
This is also the time to go after weeds, germinated by the rain, but easy to pull out of the moist ground while they are young and barely rooted. Weeding on one of those clear, crisp days that follow a storm, with the sun warming your back makes this chore much more enjoyable.
On bare ground, where weeds have come up like grass, wait a few more days for the soil to dry and use a hoe. Hoes scrape off the top growth and only work on a dry surface. If the winds following a rain turn warm and dry, weeds will quickly shrivel after being hoed out; if it turns cool and moist, they may actually root themselves back into the ground, so warming weather is preferred for hoeing.
Cleanup is also saved for after the wind dies down, when leaves can be more easily gathered.
Working with the weather like this is one of the quiet joys of gardening. It gives purpose to the rain and to the clear, clean days that follow. Gardeners tend to listen to weather reports with different ears, and they often wonder why forecasters always talk so gloomily about rain, as if it were some dreadful disaster, an especially curious phenomenon in a state where rain is so uncommon and so all important.
Overseeding Lawns--One opportunity that shouldn’t be missed at this time of the year is the chance to overseed Bermuda grass lawns. This most common of lawn grasses in Southern California goes nearly dormant in winter. And even if you don’t mind the brown, you may object to the mud that shows through and gets tracked into the house.
The solution is to seed a grass that does best in winter right over the Bermuda, and that is usually annual rye grass. This year lawns have gone dormant early, which may forecast a long winter. To overseed, first buy a thatch rake, or something similar, which has sharpened tines that cut away the accumulation of dead runners.
With this, you should slice up the lawn to make way for the seed. Then mow as close as possible to the ground, rake everything up and sow the seed. Manure is the traditional seed covering, spread very thinly, but any packaged organic material works--and smells a whole lot better. With the ground so moist, the seed should germinate quickly, but keep it moist by sprinkling often. When the Bermuda comes back to life in late spring, it will choke out the annual rye.
Sun birds. There is one group of plants that doesn’t like the rain--cacti and many succulents--the sun birds of the plant world. Most are from climates where the rain falls during the warm summer months and not at all in winter. They will rot if they get too wet in winter, and then sow bugs will invade the rotting tissue. The cure is to dry them out in the sun and then keep them out of the rain, under an eave or porch. Or, buy a translucent fiberglass panel and screw four short legs to the corners and put the pots of cactus underneath when rain threatens.
