Maple Community Garden

#1 Weed, deadhead and remove diseased plants from plots. Late tomato blight has hit the garden hard after the first rains. Please dispose of those plants in household garbage, not compost. This cleanup helps control the spread of disease and pests in the garden.
#2 Amend your soil with mushroom manure, compost or Sea Soil at this time and dig it in. Add a handful of lime as well or wait till spring.
#3 Plant spring bulbs if desired, with bonemeal in the hole before planting. Starting this fall we can plant garlic (now), leeks (spring) and onions, as our year has passed for not planting these crops due to Rust in the garden. Winter veggie plants can be put in now too: kale, winter flowering broccoli, some lettuces and radishes…Check West Coast Seeds Pamphlet re winter veggie planting (available free at garden centres)
#4 Some light pruning can be done to shrubs….currant bushes…cut long shoots back slightly and thin out crowded branches, cut down OLD canes of summer producing raspberries;  fall-bearing raspberries… cut down ALL canes in January; and some removal of older wood from blueberries . Rhubarb can be divided as well now that it is dying back back and the weather is cooler. Perennial plants can be divided too, Hosta, Sedums and Iris as well as other large perennial clumps, most will tolerate dividing now, before winter.
#5 Finish clipping edges around the plots and inside and outside the fence and clear up debris in those areas too, then you are all set for spring! Don’t forget to check your garden regularly, esp if you have produce to pick, do some weeding and keep up maintenance which is much less over winter. By doing a thorough fall cleanup, your garden will be ready for planting in the spring and the work not so overwhelming!