Take Stock Of Your Yard

While many of my thoughts at this time of year revolve around the stock pot, it is also time to take stock of our yards and gardens before our memories and ideas get buried in time and snow. Now that the leaves have fallen, it is also easy to see the bones of the yard, the trees that create the main structure of the landscape, as well as the parts of our yards, garden elements, deck, house, and outbuildings that our summer plantings can so readily enhance and disguise. That consideration should also include our neighbors, trees, structures, and features that impact on our ability to achieve the results we desire. We may not be able to do much with our neighbor's yards, but we can plan to disguise their unsightly yard parts and create more pleasant views from our windows and outdoor seating areas.

When trees are bare, we can more easily see the things we want to disguise or the ones we want to enhance. We can look at the structure of the trees themselves to find broken limbs or crowded branches or even water sprouts on fruit or flowering apple trees. This is a good time to scrutinize trees for safety issues. Branches that overhang the house or deck can be dangerous, can harbor moisture on roofs and drop a lot of debris in gutters, leading to lots of cleanup. Trees planted too close to a house can have repercussions on foundations and sidewalks as well as being dangerous fire ladders.

Trees grow, changing light patterns in a landscape. We may want to create a more dappled type of shade by selectively pruning branches on a large tree. It is not too late to mark those branches that need cutting in the spring or to remove the ones that are safe to prune now. With young trees we certainly want to prune to create strong leaders and to avoid V-shaped structures that make for weak trees.

Removing invasive grasses now and mulching our shrubs and trees now will go a long way toward having a landscape that gives you pleasure when the snow melts in the spring. Mulches may be less expensive now as businesses close out those bulky items from their inventories before winter. Pine needles can be had for a song and some labor; they can create lovely mulch as well as paths that are fragrant and suppress weeds in flower beds. A neat, finished look created by mulch can cut the cost of buying lots of plants, be a healthier situation for those plants, and make greater impact in the landscape. Mulched trees and plants require less watering and weeding in summer and keep those plants healthier.

While politicians often don't enjoy critical analysis of their policies, we can evaluate our yards and do something about the problems that exist and enhance the best parts of them with impunity. Then we can hibernate for the winter with dreams of a yard that is safe, functional, and beautiful.

Speaking of hibernation, the Master Gardener writers are taking a few months off to regroup and study and will return with columns beginning in February.