Fall is here and that means a whole different thing for gardeners. Not only do we have the wonderful fall festivals around the area, but we also have lots to do in the garden. We try to share both in this week’s show.

Get out and enjoy the garden, but don’t forget to enjoy a little of the fall festivals around the area for the next few weeks!

This week we featured...

Fall Rose Care

Fall is a season of transition for your roses. What should you be doing right now? To get the answer to that we met with the curator of the International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park, Rachel Burlington. Right now roses are slowing down in their growth. It has been a great year for most roses and Rachel told us that those conditions are continuing right now. Without a frost the roses are continuing with their blooms, though we are seeing less of them right now. She recommends that you just let them go and enjoy them right now while they are looking good. If we don’t have a hard frost you might be able to have some cut roses on your dinner table for quite a while. The one thing you don’t want to do right now is prune them back or fertilize them. Pruning and fertilizing might promote new growth and that would just get hit by frost when it does come. When that frost does come you will see all the leaves start to fall off. You will want to clean those up and keep the weeds down to promote a healthy environment for next year. After that frost you can also cut the canes down to about waist high to keep the plants from whipping around in those winter winds. Then when we get to the late winter (mid-February) you can start to prune them for the new season. If you want to enjoy the last roses of the fall you can stop by the Rose Garden until that first frost hits us!

Dividing Peonies

Fall is the time for planting. It is also the time to dig and divide your favorite perennials. This week William visited the experts at Adelman Peony Gardens (503-393-6185) to learn how to dig and divide peonies. Carol Adelman showed us how easy it is to do. She even told us that you don’t need to divide your plants as you would with other perennials. These plants don’t get overgrown or choke themselves if they get too large. Still you can use this technique to get extra plants for your friends and neighbors. The keys to success are to make sure you dig a large root, make sure your divisions include an ‘eye’ and to build a good planting area for your new root with a quality bulb fertilizer and a little lime. Carol even showed us how the rules remain the same for different styles of peonies. If you have questions about peonies or you are interested in purchasing one, you can contact them at the gardens.

Bauman’s Fall Festival

Some things change and some things stay the same, but one thing that keeps getting better year after year is the Harvest Festival (503-792-3524) at Bauman’s Farm and Garden. With dozens of different activities, there is something for everyone. From hay rides, to corn mazes and barnyard animals, they have all the regular things you would expect at a fall festival. But they go beyond that! They also have gem mining, apple cannons, pedal carts, swing lines and an obstacle course, just to name a few. In the last couple of years they have added a laser adventure and, this year, a huge jumping pad! A lot of these activities are included in your general admission. They also have a bunch of special activities happening on certain weekends.

This weekend is their 2nd annual Cider Festival. We met with Christine in the cooler to see where Bauman’s mixes their great tasting blends. During the festival you will not only get a chance to taste the Bauman blends, but there will be over a dozen different cider makers there with nearly 30 different ciders to taste, but this is just the beginning of the fall activities.

Next weekend it is the giant pumpkin weigh-off and drop. You can see giant pumpkins the size of a car compete for prize money and prestige! This year there is a rumor that we could have a world record squash showing up to the party. Then at 1pm they have the giant pumpkin drop! A 1,000 + pound pumpkin will be dropped into a giant pool of water! Come early so you can get a front row seat. If you get there early enough so you can also enjoy all the great festival foods too!

As you can see there is lots going on during the whole month of October. So stop by and check it out. Go to http://baumanshf.com for more details on the Festival!

Stur-D Fence Post Bracket

They tell us that this coming winter may be a bad one, again! That means it is time to get out and fix that fence! Most broken fences are because of damaged or rotted posts. This damage and rot is usually at the base of the post where it makes contact with the top of the soil. That means that the rest of the post is perfectly fine and doesn’t need replacing. To help fix this problem we met with Chuck the owner and co-creator of the Stur D Fence Post Bracket (503-941-5228). This is a steel support bracket that will fix your fence post without digging up the old cement. It is really easy to do. You start by digging a hole next to the broken post (6 inches away from the post) and just outside of the old cement ball. Dig down about 18 or 19 inches deep. Attach the Stur D bracket to the post. You pre-drill the holes and then use large lag screws to secure the bracket to the post. Fill the hole at the bottom 1/3 full of water and add a sack of concrete and mix it in the hole. Then level and secure the post for 24 hours until the concrete sets up and you’re done. It was just that easy!

If you are looking for this quick and easy fix that will add years to the life of your fence, you can check out their website or your local Parr Lumber location!