Gardeners Checklist: Here Is What to Do the Week of Oct. 29

by Ron Kujawski

* Carefully examine trees in your home landscape for damaged limbs. Prune those that you can reach easily from the ground. Never climb a ladder to prune branches, nor raise a chainsaw above your head. Tree work can be extremely dangerous. Spend the money to hire a certified and insured arborist to do work you can’t reach. Your life is worth it. For corrective work on street trees that are not on your property but in front of your home, contact the town tree warden. Whatever you do, don’t ignore tree problems. We’re not far from the first snows of the season. These early snowfalls tend to be wet and heavy. Obviously, damaged branches and trunks are most vulnerable to breaking under the weight of wet snow. 

* Give houseplants a dilute solution of fertilizer and then forget about any additional applications until March. Also, be careful not to over-water houseplants through winter. In general, houseplants need less water and no fertilizer during the winter months because of slow growth. The exception to this program is potted herbs growing in sunny windows or under lights. Since we are constantly snipping shoots for use in cooking, herb plants need to keep growing.

* Don’t be too alarmed by houseplants whose leaves are dropping or turning yellow. In summer, these plants enjoyed higher humidity, brighter light, and larger temperature differences between day and night than they are now getting in our thermostatically controlled homes. Yellowing and leaf drop are typical reactions as houseplants adjust to the changing environment. If yellowing and leaf drop continue beyond three or four weeks, be alarmed. Run, scream, panic!  Your plants are dying.

* Wipe surfaces of gourds, winter squash, and pumpkins with a cloth moistened with vinegar. This extends their storage life by killing bacteria and fungi that cause decay.  

* Remove and save seeds from pumpkins to be used for jack-o-lanterns or for pumpkin pie. Wash and air-dry the seeds, coat with olive oil and sea salt, and roast them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes.  Sprinkle the roasted seeds with chili powder or curry powder, or other seasonings. They make a nutritious snack.

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Cleaning tools after the gardening season has ended is often overlooked or neglected until it's time to put tools back to work in spring. By then, metal surfaces have rusted, and residual dirt acts like it is welded onto the tools. So, before putting tools away for winter, spend a little time on tool maintenance. Remove grime from the metal surfaces of garden spades, hoes, rakes, shovels, and trowels with a wire brush. Afterwards, wipe with oil or spray the surfaces with a rust-inhibiting lubricant such as WD-40. I recall old-timers — older old-timers than I — pushing spades, shovels, and trowels into a bucket filled with a mix of fine sand and motor oil as a means of preventing rust on the metal surfaces. Given the problem of disposing of the sand-oil mix, I’m not sure I’d recommend that method today, although using mineral oil in place of motor oil may work just as well. The next step is to wipe wooden handles with warmed linseed oil to prevent splitting of the wood. Finally sharpen edges of spades, hoes, trowels, weeders, and pruning tools. A grindstone is great for this, but a file will work just as well. It just requires more elbow grease. Try to retain the original angle on the tool edge. I typically eyeball the angle when sharpening hoes, spades, and trowels, but cutting tools such as mower blades and pruning shears need more precision. Check the equipment manuals for proper blade angle.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.