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Fall is still a busy time for gardeners

After a killing frost, remove dead plant debris from annual and vegetable beds. Sanitation is especially important if you have had disease in your planting beds. Remove all diseased foliage or fruits, and do not add the affected materials to your compost pile. Most home compost piles do not get hot enough to kill disease organisms, so you could spread a disease when you use compost in the garden next spring.

• While common throughout the Chicago area, buckthorn is an invasive tree. Fall is a good time to identify buckthorn because it tends to hold green leaves later, making it easy to spot. Cut the trees at ground level and quickly treat the stump with an herbicide to kill the root system. Smaller trees can be dug out with a sharp spade.

• Shredded leaves make good mulch for your garden beds. For the serious gardener, a shredder can be rented, but be aware they are very noisy so it is best to use ear and eye protection. Using a shredder is a time-consuming process but results in finer leaf mulch. For the average gardener, a lawn mower with a bag to catch the leaves will be adequate for this job. The mower doesn't cut the leaves up as finely, but it works a lot faster. Ground-up leaves will also decompose more quickly if you are using them in a compost pile. Shredded leaf mulch can also be purchased from some garden centers.

• In most garden situations, tree wrap is not needed for newly planted trees. If used, tree wrap should be removed within six months to a year. Tree wrap is used in certain areas of the Chicago Botanic Garden to help prevent animal damage in winter. These trees are wrapped in October and November and the wrap is removed in April. Both paper and burlap tree wrap work well. When using paper tree wrap, place the printed side against the trunk so it cannot be seen when wrapping is completed. Start the wrap at the bottom of the trunk and finish at the top.

• According to weather records at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the local area is currently experiencing a mild drought. There has been only .07 inches of rain through the first three weeks of October recorded at the Garden; the last good rain was on Sept. 19. Because of the cool temperatures, lawns still look green, but the soil is getting dry. Make sure evergreens, shrubs and new transplants are well-watered before hard freezes set in.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.

Buckthorn, or Rhamnus cathartica, is an invasive tree that grows rapidly in Illinois.
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