Carol Stocker-Global Correspondent

Things to do this week: This is a beautiful, long, humid, and windy autumn. Continue the autumn cleaning. If you have a municipal composting machine, or even just a corner of a fence, you can compost seeds and disease-free leaves, leaves, grass clippings, annual plants and pine needles. You can also compost coffee grounds, tea bags, shredded paper, washed egg shells, and vegetable and fruit waste. Do not compost weed seeds or invasive plants or anything that contains fat or protein (such as dairy products, cooked food with sauces, oil or bones). Do not compost dog or cat feces or cat litter. Store outdoor furniture and decorations that are not winter-proof. Cut and package diseased perennial leaves, such as moldy phlox, but leave seeds for plants such as sunflowers, coneflowers, coreopsis, and aster birds that stand in winter. In fact, more and more people leave their gardens as a cover for winter food and birds, and then clear them in the spring.

Q: I heard that they have not found bird diseases in Boston. Is it safe to start feeding the birds again?

A: The Audubon Society of Massachusetts stated that it can feed the birds again. The mysterious disease that caused bird blindness and death last summer never appeared in New England. It appears to be limited to states where large cicadas hatch and may infect the birds that eat them. So I went back to putting sunflower seeds in the feeder to see who showed up. This is very beneficial. I also just installed and inserted a heated plastic water basin that will provide much-needed water for the birds when the temperature is below freezing.

Question: Some people suggest mixing a small amount of lime and washing powder in water to prevent small animals. Any ideas?

A: I will mix paprika instead of lime with diluted ivory soap, especially for sour lovers such as blueberry bushes. Hungry deer is our biggest problem, so I wrapped their favorite evergreens 6 to 8 feet from the bottom of their favorite evergreens, including rhododendrons, yews and holly trees, with black plastic deer fences that are almost invisible. I will grow in the deer. The other green plants will be removed and browsed in the spring. I also sprayed Deer Out insect repellent. It smells like mint and can last for several weeks, even throughout the winter.

Q: Should I try to use Virginia creepers to make the lattice I am making to cover the openings between mature hemlocks?

A: This is a very good native vine, so try it. But you may need to reduce it often because the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is rough. It likes to run up to the tree, like a flag on a flagpole. Every once in a while I need to cut it off and then pull it off. But I let it roam free in autumn because it has blue berries suitable for birds and bright red leaves suitable for me. People sometimes confuse it with poison ivy, but each compound leaf has five leaflets instead of three, and it is harmless.

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