With mentions of frost and freeze in the forecast recently, lakeshore area gardeners are looking at Fall cleanup on their property.
Tom Hartman from Hartman’s Town and Country Greenhouse in Manitowoc says there are two trains of thought on cleaning up your summer garden or flowerbeds.
“There’s some things that some people will allow in their gardens till spring,” he said. “If you grow cone flowers or things like that, the birds will come and feed on the seeds…but I myself go out and clean up in the fall.”
Hartman, who appeared Friday on WOMT’s Be-My-Guest program was asked how can you try to keep those beautiful mums alive past Fall.
“Years ago, there used to be a little more hardiness to them,” Hartman explained. “They are very much a tender perennial. If you have got them in a location that gets a lot of snow, a protected location, they may come back next year, but don’t hold your breath.”
He added, “Mums have become more of an annual plant than a perennial.”
