“For me the autumn has never been a sad season. The dead leaves and the increasingly shorter days have never suggested the end of anything, but rather an expectation of the future. . . . there is an electricity in the air in October evenings at nightfall. Even when it is raining. I do not feel low at that hour of the day, nor do I have the sense of time flying by. I have the impression that everything is possible. The year begins in the month of October.”

~ Patrick Modiano, contemporary French novelist
Shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& hope filled in October)

Orange in the autumn time
Blossoms in the spring
Shelter for the animals
A perch for birds to sing

Stalwart in the colder months
In warmth, a rustling sea
Is there anything in all the world
More lovely than a tree?

~ Laura Jaworski (current American poet and crochet artist)

Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& tree-loveliness fanatic)

~ Photo credit: Lisa Ball, our daughter, who graciously shared the beauty of her Ontario, Canada property with us in these Autumn 2024 photos.

“Pale amber sunlight falls across
The reddening October trees,
That hardly sway before a breeze
As soft as summer: summer’s loss
Seems little, dear! on days like these.”
~ Ernest Dowson (English poet and novelist, 1867 – 1900)

Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& inspired by October)

“. . . you know what autumn looks like. . . . you have surely seen postcards and photographs of the kind of autumn I mean. The trees go all red and blazing orange and gold, and wood fires burn at night so everything smells of crisp branches. The world rolls about delightedly in a heap of cider and candy and apples and pumpkins and cold stars rush by through wispy, ragged clouds . . . .”

~ Catherynne M. Valente, contemporary American writer and poet, in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland . . . .

Shared by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& autumn enthusiast)

Most people fertilize their lawns in spring, but did you know that fall is actually the best time to perform this task? Fall fertilization will help your lawn recover from

summer stress and prepare for next year’s growth.

Applying nitrogen fertilizer to lawns during the late season months of September through December–while the grass is still green and growing–provides several benefits not realized by spring and summer fertilization:

• Better fall and winter color;
• Earlier spring green-up;
• Increased shoot density;
• Improved fall, winter, and spring root growth;
• Enhanced storage of energy reserves (carbohydrates) within the turf plant.

Researchers and turf grass experts find these advantages far outweigh the disadvantages (potential snow mold injury and decreased cold tolerance), and heartily recommend fall application of nitrogen fertilizers to lawns.

To give your lawn the advantages of fall fertilization, call us today (717-653-1273) to schedule a visit this fall. Sean will be happy to come out and give your lawn a healthy head start!

Contributed by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& green-lawn endorser)