September Seasonal Garden Tip

On Your mark. Get set. BUY! September plant sales are an incredible opportunity to stock up on perennials, shrubs, bulbs, trees, tropical, hard goods…yadda, yadda, yadda. I feel like a hawk soaring over fields, scanning for any small movement, and then darting in for the catch. In my case I’m seeking 50% off sale signs at garden centers. For years I have collected a hundred or so pots (the exact number is vague, similar to when I’m asked how much I weigh) and wintered them over for next year’s use. If there is not enough room to store these in my unheated garage (there never is), then I put them outside, along the building’s foundation, ideally on the east side so they are protected from wicked winter winds. To keep munching critters from devouring the roots, I cover the pots with chicken wire. Then in late November I place tarp over the whole collection to keep the pots in dry storage until late March or early April when they will once again enjoy sunshine and spring rains. Now I can shop from my own well stocked inventory of great plants at half price! (photo of Estabrook’s Garden Center in Yarmouth, Maine.  These is just ONE of their perennial areas. I work at the Kennebunk store)