CLEAN-UP
My beach garden in the Finger Lakes is home to a lovely, fall-blooming sedum with the varietal name ‘Black Jack.’ It is a tall and similar in configuration to the well-known Sedum ‘Autumn Joy.’ The difference between the varieties is that ‘Black Jack’ features leaves and stems that appear almost black. The combination of the black leaves and the pink flowers is striking.
I installed ‘Black Jack’ three years ago. In its first spring, it almost flamed out when my cousin, who takes care of the place when we are not there, decided to have a beach fire a little too near the garden. Not much remained of ‘Black Jack’ once the charred parts were clipped off. I left the remains in place–just in case–and saw new growth after about a month. The beleaguered plant bloomed weakly that fall, but eventually rose from the ashes like a sedum-shaped Phoenix and recovered strongly the following year. Last spring, the lake overflowed its banks, flooding the garden. ‘Black Jack’ was completely submerged for about a week. It recovered once again and is blooming handsomely as I write this.
The lesson of ‘Black Jack’ is that disaster recovery is possible and plants often surprise you with their resiliency. They are almost as resilient as people.
This has been a tough year for both plants and people, with widespread flooding and hurricane”“related damage in the East, drought in the Southeast and huge wildfires in Texas and elsewhere. People who are trying to rebuild their lives and homes don’t have time to worry about gardens. For those of us with less damage, however, there is hope–not to mention work to be done.
Clean-up comes first. You can’t assess damage until you remove the debris from the garden. Pile up branches, sticks and other debris. Remember that small sticks can go in the compost pile, but will take longer to break down than leaves and yard waste. Straight sticks can also be set aside for future use as plant supports.
Rake out beds and shovel off heavy accumulations of stones or mud, if possible. Recover containers from wherever they have landed and set aside, along with any plants that have been separated from their pots and need to be reunited. Some of those plants may be candidates for in-ground installation to fill spots left by specimens that did not survive.
Once the large debris is gone, tend to the plants, clipping off damaged parts, marking spots where plants have disappeared or died back completely, and noting the holes in beds and borders.
Don’t let yourself get depressed. The garden that was a vision of loveliness three weeks ago may look like a disaster now, but small signs of renewal will come quickly. A few sunny days will bring new growth to many of the plants and a few–like asters, chrysanthemums and boltonia–may start to bloom. If you think a particular plant is dead, wait awhile before removing the remains. A well-rooted specimen will often grow back from the roots, though it may not happen until next spring. Instead of worrying about death, look for signs of life.
Once everything is cleared away and tidied up, there will be bare spots. Fill them by dividing crowded perennials. This may not help much now, but will pay off handsomely next spring. If you have some extra money, place bulb orders. Romping through the fields of daffodils and tulips spread across catalog or website pages is good for the soul. If you don’t have extra money because of storm-related or other expenses, write down what you want anyway. A month from now, bulbs will start going on sale and some of your favorites will be among the discounted offerings. Plant retailing, just like all other retailing, offers abundant second acts for those who are patient.
Cut back all your zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, impatiens and other annuals. If the weather remains mild, all will bloom again. If some of your potted specimens have died, recombine the survivors in new multi-plant arrangements. You can use Gertrude Jekyll’s trick of distributing bountiful pots throughout the garden to add color.
Gardening is all about imposing an individual kind of order on nature. When the chaos of severe weather or life in general turns things upside down, the most satisfying feelings come from restoring some semblance of order. Gardeners have an advantage in this respect, because we have so much practice. Tough roots and faith in regrowth and regeneration get us and our plants through every time.