By Dennis Patton

As the garden season winds down and our attention focuses on winter and the holidays, it is an excellent time to assess your landscape. Doing a little evaluation this fall will help you get a jump on the spring rush. Now that yard work has settled down, I invite you to take some time to stop, look and listen.

Stop

2023 was a challenging year of swings and extremes. Our temperatures were all over the board, and rainfall was sporadic. This resulted in a stressful year for growing plants, some show damage or decline.

By stop, I mean take a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage, sit back and clear your mind. As they say, this too shall pass. Take a few moments for yourself. Stop what you are doing, set aside the todo list, grab a chair and look around. Stopping for a few minutes will help set you up for the next step.

Look

Once you have stopped and relaxed, open your eyes and look around. What do you see? Are you pleased with what you see? Are there issues that need to be addressed in the future?

The end of the year is the best time to note what needs attention and plan a path forward.

Create your project list, make a game plan. You have the entire winter to determine what will need correction when spring arrives. Determine how it will get done, start budgeting and make service contacts if outside assistance is required.

For example, do the trees need to be pruned? Has a plant died because of the weather extremes and requires removal? Is there an area that doesn’t meet your vision?

On the other hand, look for the positives. What did you get right this year and might want to repeat? Did your containers pop? If so, be sure to write down what you did. We all think we will remember, but as spring arrives, our minds are often blank and overwhelmed by endless must do tasks.

Looking can be aided by your smartphone. Snap photos of the challenges and opportunities as well as your successes. Now is an excellent time to sort and categorize photos you took as reminders. Digital photography makes it easy to document for the future, but only if you can quickly locate those photos again.

Listen

Now that you have had time to stop and look around, the last step is to grab the easy chair again, your favorite beverage and listen. What do you hear? Enjoying the outdoors is an immersive sight and sound experience.

A healthy landscape provides something for all the senses. Do you hear melodious birdsong in the background? The croaking of the frogs, the breeze blowing through the trees, or the laughter of neighborhood children. Or is your slice of heaven drowned out by road noise?

It may not be possible to eliminate all less-than-pleasing sounds, but depending on your location, they can be muffled. Evergreen trees and shrubs are great for absorbing road and traffic noise while providing abundant bird shelter.

Sterile landscapes that lack cover, water and food for the birds can be supplemented by feeders, bird baths or various plant materials that provide shelter and food. This landscape function must be planned for. It doesn’t just happen.

Lastly, are the sights and sounds of a healthy landscape being affected by our cultural practices? I find people apply broad-spectrum pesticides that eradicate harmful, undesirable insects as well as beneficial ones like pollinators. Birds and other wildlife are dependent on all of these for food. Take stock and ask yourself, are these treatments completely necessary? Can I tolerate some while protecting the valuable native pollinator insects or use alternate cultural control methods? Should I treat them only as a last resort?

Remember, now is a good time to stop, look and listen. Evaluate and reflect. Your senses will help you plan for success next year.

Dennis Patton is horticulture agent at the Johnson County K-State Research and Extension Office.