November. That in-between month after the fun of Halloween and before the giant holiday craze. For me, the silence, the stillness, the leaves, the smells, the gathering friends and family, is what November is all about. I may still be planting trees or bushes and harvesting those fall peas and lettuce, but November's quiet, before the crush of December, is what I enjoy most. And the color and beauty of the autumn garden and forest.

Rebecca 'Becky' Griffith is a horticulturist, a Penn State graduate and the owner of Shadowwood Gardens in Unity Township. Shadowwood has been in existence since 1989 and is an enduring staple for my search for native plants and cultivars when designing gardenscapes.

I asked Becky what we can do now in the garden to make our spring and summer 2024 more successful. Her first and foremost suggestion was to weed. (Rats, said in a Charlie Brown sort of way... I'm about done in by weeding stilt grass at this point, but that's another matter.)  

"The more weeds you get out now, the less you have to deal with in the spring," she says. "With stilt grass, pull it, get it out, as it will choke out other plants."  

Don't I know it! Mason Heberling, the associate curator of botany at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, agrees that it is a difficult one to manage. Dedicated pulling is also what he recommends, too. I'm on it. Ugh!

Her second recommendation was mulch. Add two to three inches of shredded hardwood mulch to protect plants and root systems. She suggests shredded hardwood mulch only. 

"No color, as there are so many toxic chemicals in dyed mulches, which can leach into your garden," she says. 

A relative of mine experienced this after her driveway was dyed brown from a mulch pile. And consider the tiny creatures in the soil that must endure these chemicals. Not a healthy environment for us humans nor our insect and animal brothers. 

I also leave the leaves. They are mulch. They provide protection and habitat for overwintering wooly bear caterpillars and others. Mid-May is when I move some out, but over the winter, they are part of my mulch layer.

 

Lastly, Becky suggests we "cut back perennials to 3-4 inches high to avoid disease over the winter." 

Last year, I left my perennials high and did not cut back. They can provide a habitat for bees with intact stalks. I found that there are plants that are well-adjusted to this and those that are not. My scarlet bee balm and mountain mint should have been cut back. My coneflowers and native grasses provided seeds for the birds and necessary bee habitat. I will do things differently this year and leave the coneflowers and grasses and cut back others, as Becky recommends.  

We discussed lavender, a perennial favorite for its fragrance and bee interest. Since it is evergreen, it should be pruned as a woody shrub rather than a perennial plant.   

"Just trim it to look neat, an inch or two, rather than cutting back," Becky says.   

At Shadowwood, they host holiday centerpiece classes and will also have fresh greens available starting the weekend before Thanksgiving. In addition, they will have four sizes of fresh evergreen wreaths, boxwood balls (one of my favorites!), swags, garland and roping. Consider wonderful fresh greens, rather than artificial plastic. There is nothing like the smell of fresh greens. More to come on this in December.

Shadowwood Gardens is located at 410 Twin Lakes Road. It is a hidden gem in our neck of the woods. Until next time!