- Weeks 1-4: Keep mulches pulled back several inches from the base of fruit trees to prevent bark injury from hungry mice and other rodents.
- Week 1: Harvest pecans when they start to drop from trees. Shake nuts onto tarps laid on the ground.
- Week 1: Fallen, spoiled or mummified fruits should be cleaned up from the garden and destroyed by burying.
- Weeks 3-4: A dilute whitewash made from equal parts interior white latex paint and water applied to the southwest side of young fruit trees will prevent winter sun scald injury.
- Weeks 3-4: Commercial tree guards or protective collars made of 18-inch high hardware cloth will prevent trunk injury to fruit trees from gnawing rabbits and rodents.
- Weeks 3-4: Mulch strawberries for winter with straw. This should be done after several nights near 20 degrees, but before temperatures drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely, but thick enough to hide plants from view.
Photo courtesy: KSU
Gardening Calendar supplied by the staff of the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening located at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri.(www.GardeningHelp.org)
