While most area residents are enjoying the unseasonably warm
weather this fall without a doubt, the area’s respected gardeners
and landscapers seem to have mixed feelings about the “weird
weather” lately.

Master Gardener Bob Harris, also the gardener at the University
of Pittsburgh at Bradford, said Monday night of the atypical autumn
weather, “Really it’s all good.”

Harris said it’s come to his attention lately that there are
some daffodils coming up already around the area. He said the early
sprouting will not bother them, however, as only the leaves and not
the flower bud, have come up.

“I’ve seen this before,” Harris said of the wacky weather. “I
remember mowing lawns one year just before Christmas.” For
evergreens and other trees, he said, the strange weather this year
has been “a big plus.”

There been an extended growing period, he said, very basically
allowing plants to collect extra food through the winter and become
stronger for the coming spring.

“But at the same time,” Harris said, the warmer fall for
gardeners can also be a bad thing. Insects benefit from the same
conditions during an extended growing period. “We may see more
damage in the spring due to an increased insect population. So,
there’s good news and bad news.”

Another thing Harris said he’s noticed is that with the longer
wet period earlier this year, the soil is benefiting as it expands
with the water and creates air spaces. During drought conditions a
couple of years ago, he said, the soil became compacted and that
phenomenon is being reversed lately – “a big benefit for plant
material, especially come the freezing part of winter.”

While some of the effects of this weird weather may not be seen
right away, Harris said, in a couple of years, the benefits of a
growing season like this year’s will be more apparent in trees and
bushes.

Mike Matto of Bradford – a long-time gardener, landscaper and a
hobby horticulturist, best known for his huge pumpkins – agreed the
fall weather this year is a bit strange.

Matto said Monday he has seen many flowers in bloom in the last
few days, adding the trees and plants “don’t know it’s fall … it’s
dry and then wet, cold and then it warms up … they’re all messed
up.”

He seemed to feel the curious climate this year, however, was
not solely a good thing. He said the constant and severe changes
put a stress on the plant life, adding he has lost every one of his
gigantic pumpkins but one.

“I had three (pumpkins) well over 600 pounds,” Matto said of the
ones who didn’t make it this season. “I ended up with one off a
little tiny vine … 488 pounds.”

He added that it was possible viral infections or airborne
infections can spread into the ground and soil during excessive
rain, and that can cause problems for plants, too. But mainly, the
extraordinary weather has been taking its toll on the area flora,
he said.

“It’s been weird,” Matto said, “It can’t make up its mind what
season it wants to be.”

Local landscaper David Hoffman of Bradford echoed Matto’s
sentiments, saying Monday “It’s been a weird fall to say the
least.”

Typically at this time of the year, Hoffman, owner of Hoffman
Landscaping and Fencing, is gearing up for winter work. Usually
around Thanksgiving, he said, he wraps up the landscaping and moves
into the snow removal service.

“I’m still fencing,” Hoffman said Monday, however. “We’re were
doing that today.”

He added he could not remember the last time his company was
still landscaping this late in the year.

Hoffman said that since his company does snow removal in the
winter, he doesn’t lose much during the off season for landscaping.
Doing the landscaping a little later this year, however, has
increased the company’s income by about 25 percent, he said.

He went on to say, he, personally, is ready for the snow to
come, though.

“I really enjoy cross-country skiing,” Hoffman said. “This is
normally my leisure time. I’d rather ski than plow snow or put up
fence any day.”

Master Gardener Larry Rotheraine of Lewis Run is probably best
known in the Bradford area for his work with Evergreen Elm’s
organic biodynamic gardening.

“Because of organic biodynamic herbal strains we use, we can
control the climate in the garden itself,” Rotheraine said. The
unusual weather this year – or any other year, for that matter – is
“zero factor” for the biodynamic gardeners.

“We can compensate for the extreme conditions and get the same
results,” he said.

Rotheraine said, however, that he won’t truly be able to tell
how this fall has affected the soil, plants and his gardens until
the spring “when we are trying to grow … and determine what
biodynamic preparations to use to compensate …”

He considered the growing season over the last week of
September, Rotheraine said, despite the area seeing temperatures in
the 60s through November.

Grab your shorts, open up windows and throw those sweaters away.
Spring-like temperatures have returned to the Bradford area.

Well, not quite.

While Tuna Valley residents venture outside to take advantage of
the warmer weather, Penn State National Weather Service
Meteorologist Rob Rabzanowski said Monday more seasonable
temperatures are on the way over the weekend.

“We are looking at the warmer weather sticking around through
Friday,” Rabzanowski said. “At that point, we’re going to switch
out of the warm air pattern and get back to more typical weather
for November.”

In other words, enjoy it while you can.

“It’s a little unusual, but not unprecedented,” Rabzanowski said
of the recent spate of warm weather. “This will be one of our
warmer Novembers.”

Rabzanowski said a high pressure area coupled with a
southwesterly flow across the region is spurring highs reaching
into the 60s.

On Monday, temperatures reached into the low 60s. That trend
will continue throughout the bulk of the week, according to The
Associated Press, which predicts partly cloudy skies and highs in
the upper 50s for today. The AP indicates temperatures will remain
in that neighborhood from Wednesday through Friday, with some rain
entering the picture starting on Wednesday.

The next chance for colder temperatures arrives on Saturday,
when highs in the 30s will reappear.

In regards to the long range forecast over the winter,
Rabzanowski said there will likely be no large deviations from
previous years.

“Everything will average out,” Rabzanowski said. “Temperatures
will be at or slightly above normal, while precipitation will be
pretty close to normal or slightly above normal. With the
precipitation, it’s a little tougher to predict in an El Niio
year.”

Earlier this month, a severe downpour inundated some streets
across the valley, causing flooding in the city and neighboring
townships.

The warmer weather has also allowed work to continue on the U.S.
Route 219 Bradford bypass and has saved many residents from
typically large heating bills at the start of the winter
months.