Ghostwater Garden

November In the Garden

Crab apples and rainfall.

What November looks like in Michigan. On a good day.

Fall Weather

(Acer palmatum 'Viridis,' photo from October 8, 2003)

Fall weather is so changable. Woke up today to a steady, miserable drizzle. By mid-afternoon, it was cloudy but not raining, and the air was actually still pretty warm. After all, this is November.

So I got out and mucked around with some of the fall cleanup chores.

Moved some stuff that had been living on the patio (pots, bagged dirt) out of the path of the snowblower. Found and stashed more of the ceramic pots - in zone 5, no ceramic is 'frost proof', it all has to be emptied, cleaned up and stored in the garage. Trimmed down some more of the weedy looking fading plants (goldenrod and wild asters just look shabby by the time they are done.) I put some of the potted plants into the corners where they will ride out winter's abuse.

I still need to finish breaking down the whiskey keg pond and store the plastic liner, rake all the leaves off the patio, and put all the potted plants in secure places for their winter sleep.

(Sedum spurium 'Bronze Carpet' - Dragon's Blood Sedum, photo from October 8, 2003)

Next year I hope to get my three bin compost area built, and that will make my life easier. I have a plastic composter that is full to bursting, a pile of leaves and miscellaneous trimmings beside it, and half a steel barrel that has mostly gone to rust - also full of potential compost. The making of the triple bin will be a job and a half, though, because of the perp work for it - all the crap that is hanging out behind the garage has to come out and be dealt with/discarded. By spring I hope to have fresh energy for this.