Winter is starting to settle in, and let’s hope it does not stay as long as it did last year! Here are a few garden tasks for you to do on the warmer days that will help your home look great for the winter holidays.
Perhaps the biggest bang for the landscaping buck is to edge your beds. A sharp, crisp, even edge to your beds really spruces up your landscape. The edge line should be in larger swoops, not wiggly, and serves to make a clear separation between your turf grass and the beds.
You may have to pull out some errant clumps of grass that have crept into your beds over the growing season, and doing a bit of weeding will really help to make your garden shine.
If you have time, you can spread some shredded leaf mulch (available free from the Village of Owego) or hardwood mulch on the beds. The uniformity that the mulch provides puts the finishing touches on your landscape. Two or three inches of mulch will do the job admirably.
Use a flat spade to make a nice, crisp edge. Holding the spade vertically, cut down into the soil about 2-inches. Then, holding the spade at a slight angle, with the handle towards your shrubs, cut the soil to make a V. The little clod of soil can be rubbed down to blend into the bed. As I always tell folks, “It’s the edge that makes the difference!”
For more gardening information, contact Barb Neal, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Tioga County at 687-4020.
