Gardening in the fall is a great time to look back on your garden successes and disappointments, but there’s still plenty of time left for most of us to do some last-minute garden maintenance. Fall gardening takes advantage of cooler temperatures and less insects and putting the garden to bed is nowhere near as hectic as waking it up in the spring. You’ll have time to really see how your plants are doing. After the first hard killing frost, it is now time to putting the garden to bed.
Clear off the garden of old dead plants. Enrich garden beds with compost or manure, it is easier now than in the wet spring. Just spread an even layer on any exposed soil and roto till it in. Winter’s freezing and thawing, with some extra help from the earthworms, will work it into the soil for you. Garden centers often sell compost in the spring, but rarely in the fall (don’t know why).
Clean bird feeders to get them ready for use. The birds have done a great job of feasting on garden pests and serenading you all summer, now it’s time to encourage them to stick around another year.
Gather and dry some herbs for winter use, seed heads and flowers like yarrow for drying. Get ahead start on your garden clean-up by cutting back plants like hydrangea and bringing them indoors, for some garden memories.
Clean out cold frames for winter use. You won’t want to do it when the temperature hovers below freezing. Cleaning it out in the fall makes it all the more likely you will put it to use in the spring.
Winterize your water garden. Get ready to turn off the pump and turn on the ice breaker. Don’t forget to cover the water garden with netting, to keep the falling leaves out.
Keep trees and shrubs well-watered until the ground freezes. They may look dormant, but they’re still alive. If you have a mild, dry winter, continue watering throughout the season. This goes doubly for trees that were planted this year.
Cut back most perennials. Definitely cut back diseased perennials and remove all foliage and dispose of it somewhere other than the compost.
Clean, sand and oil garden tools before storing them for the winter. Cleaning your hand pruners is less intimidating than you think.
Take cuttings now, before a frost turns your plants to mush. It’s much easier to bring in small cuttings of plants to over-winter, than large pots of mature plants and they’ll transplant better outdoors, next spring.
