Wow, late frost this year. As we wait for the inevitable, I have lingering email questions to answer. Hopefully, at least one of these will be helpful to you.
Let’s start with those who wonder if garlics should be exposed to mycorrhizal fungi and what is the best way to infect cloves if the answer is yes, which it is. In fact, there is a specific mycorrhizal fungi, Glomus intraradices. Actually, this fungus has been reclassified and is now known as Rhizophagus irregularis. If you look at the label of most mycorrhizal products, you will see one or the other of these monikers listed.
OK, so what is the best way to apply Glomus intraradices/Rhizophagus irregularis? Let me suggest two methods. The first is to dampen the cloves you will be planting and rolling them in the fungal mix. Or, you can take a small pinch of the powder and mix it into the soil at the bottom of the planting hole. Don’t just dump it; mix it in the soil. The roots of the garlic will grow into it and be infected. Rolling seems easier and more efficient.
Next, several readers like the idea of turning their lawn into a meadow and wonder if fall is the time to make the conversion and how to do it.
Amazingly, it is very easy to convert a lawn into a flowering meadow. There really isn’t much work involved. You need to act now if you are going to do the task before it gets too frosty out there. The hardest part will be getting seed for your project. First, look locally. You can use your own seeds such as poppies, clover, bachelor buttons, alyssums -- almost any flowers you have lying around.
There are several internet sources and you may even be able to find a kit here in town. My favorite source is Flawn. Several of us have been using their kits and they work very well -- beautifully, in fact. Another good source is American Meadows.
All you need to do is cut your lawn really short and toss out the seed. That is it: No digging, no turning soil. If you want to make meadow beds with paths in between, you could use your weed eater to shave the grass down in particular areas so it is low enough to plant in. Go for it.
And, of course, there are a series of questions about how to deal with a meadow lawn in the fall. Leave it, cut it or trim it?
The answer depends on when you put your meadow in and what look you are trying to establish. If yours is a real tall meadow, you might want to leave it alone so it gives habitat to wildlife during the winter. (This will, for sure, include voles, but their damage is easily remediated.) Similarly, if you put in a meadow this summer, you may want to let it go undisturbed this winter. In any case, do not mow your meadow until the flowers have matured and are ready to seed, which should be about now.
Finally, someone asked if it is possible and even advisable to keep a compost pile going during the winter? The answer is most definitely, but you will have to collect enough green material now to keep things going. Obviously, it is not the sunlight that heats a compost pile. It is the microbial activity in the pile and that takes green and brown material.
In the summer, it is lack of brown material that hampers composters. The trick is to gather plenty of leaves now for this fall’s pile offerings as well as enough to use next spring and summer when you won’t be able to just rake them up. Similarly, you need to collect extra grass clippings now so you have enough green material to get you at least through the start of the winter.
Keep those questions coming.
Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar:
Alaska Botanical Garden: Lots of stuff going on from sourdough baking to drawing.
Faucets: Disconnect hoses and timers. Drain water implements, too.