Work on the summer cottage in the autumn: everything that needs to be done

The autumn time differs from all seasons with its ripe beauty, a certain sadness and sadness. All nature is preparing for a long period of hibernation. For a person, this is uncharacteristic, but the share of sadness in the mood slips. Another thing is the owners of summer cottages and household plots. There is no time to be sad, no reason either. Because the laying of products in the cellars for long-term storage is coming to an end, full bins please. It's time to start autumn work on the plot.

It is too early for the owners of suburban real estate to rest. The main things are ahead. In order for the next year the garden to be strewn with apples and pears, the lawns to be decorated with bright and fragrant flowers, and for the whole winter the supplies put in the cellars have been preserved from autumn, it is still necessary to work hard. It should be noted that there is plenty of work on the summer cottage in the autumn. The season of autumn precipitation begins, there are few sunny days left. More and more dreary pours rain. The autumn sky is almost always covered with clouds. Therefore, summer residents are trying to use every opportunity and start autumn work in the country as early as possible, without delay.

There are many concerns, which can be conditionally divided into several areas:

• Garden: harvesting, digging, planting vegetables and herbs for the next year.

• Garden: tree fertilization, pruning, preparation for winter.

• Flower garden: cleaning, trimming bushes, insulation, planting new flowers.

As you can see, it is difficult to even count the autumn work in the country. But our summer residents are not afraid of difficulties. But it’s better to start work with a pleasant one.

back to index ↑

Harvesting

There is no need to wait for heat, there will be no heat. Therefore, everything that remains on trees, shrubs and in the garden must be cleaned. A few tips to help preserve food in winter:

• Tomatoes and peppers, although still green, may become ripe if stored in a cool environment. For safety, boxes are suitable in which green vegetables are laid in a layer in one or two rows, no more. Periodically, it is necessary to look into the boxes, sort out the vegetables. Throw away spoiled ones, and add ripe ones to food.

• Carrots, potatoes must be sorted out and put in the basement for storage during the long winter. Before laying, it is necessary to process the basement: disinfect and dry. Potatoes should be dried in a dry place before storage.

• Before planting, it is good to dry the seed potatoes in a barn for several days, without closing them from daylight. During this time, the tubers will turn green, become unsuitable for food, but will be well preserved for planting.

• The last apples and pears are taken from the trees.Harvest for dry storage when the dew has dried. Only whole fruits are selected, without traces of spoilage and damage. Good products are stored in cool dry rooms, lined with straw or paper in boxes. Periodically, the fruits are inspected and the rotten ones are removed.

• Late cabbage is cut before frost. Leave a few centimeters of the stalk and four lower leaves as a source of moisture for the winter. The vegetable is stored until the onset of severe frosts in the attic in a state suspended by the stalk.

back to index ↑

Seed preparation for planting

In order not to have to spend a lot of money on the purchase of seeds next year, they start harvesting ahead of time. All collected testes are collected in dry weather, laid out on paper and allowed to dry. Dry seeds are separated, laid out in bags and stored in a dry, ventilated room until next year.

Selected for melon seeds, tomatoes, cucumbers are left to ripen for several weeks. Then the seeds are selected, placed in water along with the pulp for several days, separated and left to dry in a well-ventilated area.

back to index ↑

Preparation of medicinal plants

All plants whose roots have a medicinal effect are dug up in the fall. The rhizomes are washed, blotted with a napkin, cut into small pieces. The roots are dried in dry, ventilated places; an attic is ideal for this purpose. Store already dried medicinal formulations in glass jars under lids.

When the cellars are full, it's time to start preparing the garden for winter.

back to index ↑

Garden work

In the garden before winter, you need to do some big work. All those plants that can be planted in the fall and will not freeze during frosts, it's time to sow or plant in the ground with tubers or roots. This technique will help start next year's harvest a few weeks earlier.

When planting in the winter, you need to be prepared that not all plants or seeds will be able to survive the frost, so the amount of seed is slightly increased.

In this way, parsley, leeks, and cilantro are sown in winter. They try to plant some crops so that in the spring they quickly grow and gain strength during the first spring rains. These include carrots, onions, and garlic.

In order for the seeds not to freeze and successfully endure the winter cold, follow these tips:

1. Start sowing work when the first small but persistent frosts have just begun. In this case, the seeds will not have time to germinate in the fall, but will be slightly saturated with moisture.

• Be sure to plant the seeds in a dry state, do not let them pre-sprout.

• At the end of October, onions and garlic can be planted for the winter.

• After sowing, cover the seeds with earth and cover with peat. It will not allow a crust to form on the surface, it will protect from the cold.

• Put a layer of leaves on top of the peat and cover them with branches. These measures will save the seeds from wind and blowing.

back to index ↑

Digging the earth

Before starting earthwork in the autumn in the country, it is necessary to prepare a garden.

Preliminary work

Leave a small bed of parsley, sorrel so that in the spring they will please with an early harvest. The remaining free space is dug up. There is an opinion that this is an extra occupation. But the fact that it is better to turn over heavy soils is a generally accepted opinion.

Before loosening the soil, all vegetable crops are removed from it and weeds are removed. This precaution will not be superfluous. In winter, rodents use any warm place to keep warm and overwinter. Beginning to rot plants will come in handy.Heaps of old decaying grasses and weeds left for the winter in winter can become a place for mice to live in their summer cottage.

Put all the collected leaves and weeds in a compost pit, cover with plastic wrap for the winter. Otherwise, mice will gather there for the winter.

Excavation

After completing the preparatory work, they begin to dig. The main purpose or purpose of this work: to loosen the earth and create conditions for the roots and weed seeds in the soil to freeze and die at low temperatures. When performing earthworks, experienced summer residents are advised to adhere to several rules:

• Dig to the depth of the fertile layer. As a rule, this is in one bayonet of a shovel. That layer of soil that is deeper is raised to the surface.

• If the earth is acidified, limestone is introduced into the soil during earthworks.

• When digging, the earth is turned over, but the clods are not broken with a shovel. Do not worry that the earth will remain in the form of compacted blocks of soil by spring. Over the long winter months, it will gradually crumble itself and become fluffy by spring. Unbroken piles of earth freeze better in winter, while roots and weed seeds die.

• Work on digging or plowing begins before frost. Therein lies its secret. Weed seeds can germinate in a few weeks of heat and die from the first frost.

• During digging, fertilizer is applied to the ground. It also includes manure. When laying, do not bury the fertilizer deep. Fresh manure will decompose better if it is near the surface. If there is already overwintered fertilizer on the territory of the dacha, it is better to add it to the soil.

back to index ↑

Autumn work at the dacha in the garden

By autumn, only late varieties of fruits remain on the trees. They are collected, as a rule, they are suitable for long-term storage in the winter.

It's time to protect the garden from the approaching frost. There is a lot of work in the garden in autumn. It is connected with the warming of trees, the formation of a crown, the preparation of plants for winter, and protection from frost. The work can be divided into several stages. Undercut:

• After the fruits are harvested, you can start pruning trees. First, remove all broken and damaged branches. Work is carried out with a garden tool, trying to harm the plant as little as possible.

• Pay special attention to the formation of the crown. Everything that does not fit into the desired shape is removed and trimmed. This process is not harmless, the tree endures it painfully, especially on the eve of winter. Pruning is done sparingly so as not to reduce the protective properties of the plant.

• After the extra branches are removed, the cut points are treated with garden pitch, drying oil. A two percent solution of copper sulphate is also suitable.

• Work with pruning begins after the foliage has fallen. But at the same time, they avoid doing it in frost, during sub-zero temperatures the branches become brittle. It is difficult to carry out high-quality pruning, branches can be injured.

• In autumn, special attention is paid to the quality of tree bark. This is important to do before the start of frost. The cover of the tree is inspected, mosses and lichens are removed. Garden pests like to winter in them.

• After the trunk is cleared, it is better to whitewash the trees. This is one of the most reliable ways to protect plants from pests. Apply the solution along the trunk from the ground before the formation of branches. So that the whitewash does not wash off, 200 g of wood glue is added to the solution in a bucket of water.

After the work is finished with the crown of the trees, they proceed directly to preparing the plant for the winter cold.

• They dig up the earth near the tree trunk. After performing such work in winter, the larvae of pests that are on the surface will freeze. In the treated state, the soil is mixed with air and retains heat better, which protects the trees from freezing. In order not to injure the roots, digging is done with a pitchfork.

• Before the onset of cold weather, the trees are watered abundantly, at the same time fertilizer is applied.

• If the tree trunk has traces of a fungal disease, the plant is treated with a solution of boric acid or urea.

• In order to protect plants from rodents, the bottom of the trunk is covered with a piece of roofing material, metal mesh or other improvised materials that pests cannot gnaw through. Burlap can be placed under the roofing material. In order for the roofing material not to overheat in winter, it must be whitewashed.

• Before the onset of frost, a layer of peat is laid near the tree trunk, it will help protect the roots and trunk from sub-zero temperatures.

back to index ↑

Garden renovation

In autumn, work begins to renovate the garden. Transplanting bushes and trees is best done after the foliage has turned yellow. Trees can be transplanted both in spring and autumn. They try to finish the work before the onset of a period of stable frosts. For shrubs, it is better to choose autumn days.

When planting plants, it must be remembered that shrubs must be more than a meter away from the paths. Trees are planted at a distance of 3 m from the house, fence or path.

back to index ↑

Preparing for winter shrubs

Despite the fact that shrubs most often easily tolerate winter cold, they need to be prepared for the winter period. Work begins with the cleaning of shrubs from the remnants of old branches and leaves, weeds are removed. Near the root they dig or push the ground. Before the start of frost, they try to complete the following work:

• Cut off old currant branches, leave up to 20 shoots on one bush. Shrubs are treated with ash and fertilized: superphosphate.

• The bushes of currants and gooseberries are dug in the soil at the stem, a little earth is poured to the root.

• Raspberry bushes for winter must be thinned out, those branches that bore fruit in the ending year must be removed. Weak and damaged young shoots should be removed. For the winter, raspberry shoots are bent to the ground and fixed in a state almost laid on the ground. During a snowfall, this will help them quickly cover with snow and not freeze.

• Grapes are protected from frost by dropping. After harvesting, give a short period of time for the bush to gain strength. After the preparatory period, pruning is performed, and the plant is buried. Most often this is done in the simplest way: the bush is laid on straw, covered with a layer of hay. Close with bags and fasten.

• Weak bushes and small trees are best secured at the supports and tied up. This precaution will help them withstand strong winds.

back to index ↑

Preparing for the winter flower garden

In order for the dacha to turn into a flowering garden next year and fill the entire district with its aroma, in the fall you will have to work hard on the safety of flower bushes and adequately meet the cold.

All those perennials that have already faded are pruned. Many tolerate cold well and do not need shelter. The roots of peonies, lilies are covered with peat.

Some of the flowers need special care:

• Before the frosts come, the roses are removed from the supports and cut. After the onset of frost, this will be difficult to do. Closer to the cold time, roses spud. When negative temperatures occur at night, the bushes are covered with spruce branches.

• Clematis require special care. Just like roses, they need shelter.

• Before winter frosts, the roots are divided for propagation and, together with bulbous plants, are planted in those places where they are intended to bloom in spring. A little earth is trampled near the tuber.

• Gladioli, on the contrary, are dug out of the ground by the end of October. Leave in the garden for several hours to lie down, dry. After that, they are transferred to a dry room for several weeks to remove a trace of moisture. In winter, the bulbs are stored at temperatures up to 10 degrees.

• Dig up tubers of dahlias, begonias. They must be washed, cleaned, cut off weak roots, dried and stored in the basement.

• Chrysanthemums are best cut, covered with peat and insulated.

• Many flowers are planted with seeds in the ground in the autumn just before the frosts themselves. Trample, cover with peat and leave until spring.

• The free space of the flower garden is dug up.

Properly done autumn work on the plot will help protect the garden and the garden from the cold of winter. In spring, grateful trees will bloom with delicate flowers and delight with a generous harvest. Timely work on the summer cottage in the autumn will help the flowers quickly restore their shape and fill the open spaces with beauty and aroma in the spring. Before nature wakes up from hibernation, your menu will be replenished with green herbs. High-quality autumn work in the country is the key to a great harvest.

back to index ↑

---