Fall Maintenance on the Gulf Coast

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In a message dated 10/27/2001 6:55:08 PM Central Daylight Time, chrisziggy1 writes:

 

 

I really find throwing away leaves to be a big waste for me being as frugal as I am .. they condition the soil so much and cost nothing!

 

 

i live on the Gulf Coast ( zone 8 ) Nothing ever leaves my property.I compost, make leaf mold, etc........I don't use pesticides except to get rid of fireants, and even then I use it sparingly and make sure none of my animals walks around in that area of the yard for at least 2-3 days.

We have so much pine straw around here that we pile it up around the base of our plants to protect the root system. We uaually don't have over a couple of days at a time that are freezing or below here. That's what I lilke about the climate in the panhandle of Florida. I start cutting everything back right after it blooms in anticipation of them setting the blooms for next year,like my Gardenias, Azaleas, Camillas, etc...... cutting out old wood , mishapen branches, back to the ground so the sunlight can get to all the leaf surfaces possible. We have a hurricane season here that caused us to keep a lot of that done earlier than most folks. But when hurricane season ends I'll start taking the potted plants from the north side of my house and placing them at the south side of my house where the heat that is radiated from the bricks will make a kind of greenhouse effect for them when surrounded by sheets and plastic. ( I do a kind of makeshift greenhouse by covering my screened patio on the outside with sheets of heavy plastic.) works for the conditions around here. I will bring a couple of "special" plants I have inside for the winter, but for the most part everything is well protected by this method. Deonia