Countdown to Next Year's Garden

If you're a gardener, you're making a list and checking it twice. The actions that you take right now will determine whether next year's garden is a diamond or a dud. Amateurs equate the spring with gardening, but all old pros know the real work is in the Fall. A top quality garden has to be planned out months in advance and trees, bulbs and new sod all need the magic of winter cold and dormancy to hasten the new growth of the Spring.

It is underground, during the winter months, that the real work is happening. Plants are forming roots, flower buds are getting ready to burst into new life. So what now?

Take a look at your lawn. Any dead spots? This is the time to reseed and fence in the damaged area for new growth. Professional gardeners like the Brooklyn Botanic Garden www.bbg.org/ segregate the heavily used lawn of the Cherry Esplanade to concentrate damage there so that they are not afflicted with bald spots all over. Come the Fall, the entire grassy area is replanted and fenced in to allow roots to grow during the cold winter months.

What about trees? This is the perfect time to plant because dormant trees require less water than plants exposed to the full sunlight of a warm spring or summer. Since that burlap wrapped tree has few or no roots by definition, let it grow some during the cold winter months to support the coming leaves.

Don't forget to take out the pruning shears either. This is the time to reduce excess growth on roses and other woody shrubs to avoid frost damage, make it easier on water-starved roots, and get down to clean healthy wood for next year's growing cycle.

Bulbs are a must have for the Fall season. Choose your poison. Outdoors or in? Tender or forcing? Established favorites like Van Bourgondien www.dutchbulbs.com/ are selling those wonderful tulips, hyacinths and crocuses that you want peeping out of the ground next April. And if you have no garden? What about some terrific forcing bulbs like Paperwhites or Sol d' Or, perfect for growing in a pebble-filled bowl with a little water in the coldest room of your house. Or you could plant a few potted tulips, bury them under some loose leafy mulch and take them in in January for a little early spring color.

Eye up the dreary spots in your home and garden. Many nursery men offer complete bulb selections coupled with plans so that you can affect a quick redo of a dull corner with a minimum of knowledge, price or fuss.

Don't forget. Christmas is coming too and now is the time to pick up an order of the best Amaryllis bulbs before they are on everybody's minds and the price skyrockets. There is nothing like handing someone a big terracotta pot with two massive stems featuring 8 gramophone-sized flowers in orange, red, white or stripes to make yourself look like a genius. Who has to know that you just stick them in the dirt and water?

Forget Santa Claus. You have your own list and you are checking it twice-right now!