Composted horse manure fertilizer orders due Dec. 15

Mill Pond Garden is offering freshly composted horse manure for sale to be used on late-winter fertilization of beds, shrubs and trees. Orders must be placed by Wednesday, Dec. 15. Last year, supplies sold out. To order a quantity of 18-lb. bags, go to millpondgarden.com and click on the Shop heading. Orders will be ready for pickup the last week of winter.

Composted horse manure is the best of all fertilizers, even for house plants, vegetable gardens, flowers, etc. This is the fertilizer Mill Pond Garden uses for its own plantings. After composting for 120 days at 135 degrees F or more, all anaerobic bacteria are killed, all weed seeds are killed, and beneficial microbes and fungi will be heavily populated. The product is odorless. No other local source exists, including in stores, for freshly composted horse manure, which has a shelf life of only six to eight weeks.

Hard freezes typically start coming to the Cape Region around Thanksgiving. Mill Pond Garden near Lewes offers tips on how to prepare the yard and garden for freezing winter temperatures.

Now is the time to take in tropicals and non-hardy garden plants to store in a garage or under the house in a non-freezing location. These include plants like bromeliads, clivia, tropical ferns and plants that summered in the garden, and bulbs like caladiums and colocassias. The taro or elephant ears bulb can be left in the ground covered with a pile of leaves with little risk. Taro can survive temperatures down to 10 degrees F.

Outdoor showers and hoses should be drained to prevent pipes bursting. Fountains should be drained, covered or inverted and their pumps stored in a dry place. Fish ponds should have a bubbler installed to keep from freezing over and keep water oxygenated, allowing gas exchange so methane can escape into the atmosphere. The fish pond should be cleaned so excess methane does not poison the fish.

House gutters should be cleaned out after leaf drop is over so they drain fast and do not build up snow and ice weight. Garden tools, and lawnmower undersides and blades should be cleaned and oiled before they are stored for the winter.

In preparation for snow and ice, get a bag of coarse or general-purpose sand to store in a dry place like the garage or an outdoor shed, and perhaps keep a sand container near the entryway to treat sidewalks and paths. Mill Pond Garden does not recommend using salts on walkways for the damage it causes to nearby plants. An icy staircase should be treated lightly to melt the ice for safety, as well as sanded for traction.

For overwintering birds such as cardinals, blue jays, wrens, mourning doves, titmice, chickadees, finches, mockingbirds, woodpeckers, sapsuckers, and more, a hard freeze is time to put up both suet feeder and seed feeders as well as provide a heated bird bath to keep them provided with food and water.

The soft-billed birds particularly need help since they cannot eat seeds but only berries or suet once insects are lacking. Some hummingbirds have recently been noted surviving local winters with help form homeowners who put out feeders and from the increasing availability of nectar plants like camellias.

The bird bath is important since birds must have clean feathers for proper insulation against cold. A bird bath should be placed where it can be thoroughly enjoyed, perhaps near a kitchen window. Rinse and refill the bird bath daily to avoid birds sharing diseases, especially since they also drink the water they bathe in.

Leaving garden beds for cleanup in spring is highly beneficial to birds and many other creatures. Birds search through leaves for overwintering insects, as do small mammals. Beneficial insects also need that litter for both food and winter habitat. A large brush pile in the garden can shelter turtles, garter snakes (a gardener’s best friend), praying mantis, frogs and small animals. The seeds of many garden perennials and annuals like sunflowers, phlox, goldenrod and more can sustain birds, small mammals and insects.

To help out the 200 native Delaware bee species, especially bumblebees, provide a sheltered stack of 18-inch hose sections in which the bees can overwinter. Bumblebees come out on winter days above 46 degrees F to forage for snacks such as nectar-bearing flowers like spirea, camellia, hellebore, pansy, witch hazel, woodwardia, pyracantha, arrowwood and Daphne.

Fall is also a good time to plant shrubs and trees up until ground freezing, typically in mid-January. Woody plants placed in the ground during fall survive better than those planted in spring, as they get to grow a good root system without heat stress. Early December is still a good time to plant spring-flowering bulbs. Some bulbs are proof against both voles and deer, including daffodils, snowdrops, camassia, chinodoxa, grape hyacinths and fritillaria, which can provide color and flowers from late January to early May.

Fertilize turf by the first week of December, using either slow-release Lesco or any generic 10-6-4 fertilizer. Grass grows its deepest roots in cooling soil, and the fertilizer treatment will preserve a lush green through the worst of winter.

Pull weeds or spot treat them with organic weed killers, some of which can be made from kitchen products including salt, white vinegar and a bit of detergent. Organic weed killers do not kill roots very well, so a steady habit of pulling is best. If one has to resort to chemicals, there are some that state-certified pesticide applicators can use that are not known to be harmful.

Mill Pond Garden, a certified nonprofit entity, is a sustainable, holistic, professional horticultural botanic garden on Red Mill Pond near Lewes. Subscribe free on the website above for invitations to open garden days.