Cleaning Your Garden After the Fall
There’s a lot that needs to be done in the late fall to prepare your garden for the winter months. Here’s what to prioritize to get your garden in good shape for next spring.
For most gardeners, fall is one of the busiest seasons. Vegetable plants are still in full production mode, and flowers are blooming every day.
The finish line to the growing season may be in sight, but it’s a mistake to call it quits before giving your garden a proper cleaning before winter.
Taking the time to clean up your garden after the fall will make for a healthier, more productive growing space once spring arrives. Here’s what to prioritize, so the process isn’t overwhelming.
The best time to start cleaning the garden is after the first frost of the fall. This freezing weather will kill off most annual plants so you don’t need to worry about cutting the season short. It’s also possible to start the cleanup earlier in the season once most of the plants start fading and slowing down production.
Be careful about starting the cleaning process too early with your perennials, as cutting them back when the weather is still warm might trigger new growth, which weakens the plants before winter.
If you live in an area without frost, wait until the annual plants begin to brown and die before starting the fall cleanup.
Taking care of the fall garden doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Follow these steps to ensure the most critical projects are completed.
It’s tempting to give up on weeding once the weather starts to get cold, but doing so sets you up for disaster in the spring. That’s because each weed will go to seed and disperse hundreds of new seeds into the garden to sprout next season
So, if you only prioritize one project for cleaning the fall garden, make sure you complete one final round of weeding. If the ground is bare, consider covering the soil with cardboard or tarps to prevent any weed seeds from germinating.
There are different opinions on the best way to take care of dead garden plants in the fall.
In the past, the popular gardening advice was to remove all plant material from their gardens in the fall to make the growing space clean and tidy. Now, people better appreciate the importance of leaving things more natural to create a habitat for beneficial insects over the winter.
The best strategy today is to carefully inspect your growing space and remove only the plant material that shows signs of disease or extreme insect damage. Throw this material away — don’t compost it — so you don’t spread the disease to next year’s plants.
Many healthy plant stalks can be left in place. Not only will they anchor the soil against erosion from winter storms, but they provide a habitat for beneficial organisms. Flowers with seeds, like sunflowers, also offer birds and other wildlife a winter food supply.
Note: Consider cutting back early blooming perennials and other self-seeding plants if you don’t want them spreading throughout the garden in the spring.
Also, you should always cut back irises to a few centimeters above the soil line so iris borers can’t overwinter in their foliage.
Fallen leaves have a place in garden beds. Rather than throwing your yard debris away, shred some of it with a mulcher or by running over it with a lawnmower to layer it over the garden beds. It will decompose over the winter and add fertility back to the soil.
You can also add a few piles of leaves to out-of-the-way corners of the garden to supply habitat space for butterflies, native bees, and other valuable pollinators.
Finally, add shredded leaves to your compost bin to balance any green material and make a nutrient-rich soil amendment for the spring.
Fall is the best time to plant new bushes, shrubs, and trees in your garden. The soil is still warm enough to give them a head start before winter dormancy so they can take off in the spring.
You can help your established plants by watering less in the early fall to slow down growth. Once the leaves have dropped, you can give each plant a deep watering before mulching around their trunks to protect against dropping temperatures.
The best time to restore fertility to your garden is early fall, once the growing season is starting to wrap up.
Once the perennials have gone dormant, you can add organic material like compost, shredded leaves, or rotted manure to the garden beds and mix it into the top few inches of the bed. It will break down over the winter and be ready for plants to access in the spring.
This is also the best time to get a soil test to determine what nutrients the space may need.
Note: Minimize tilling as much as possible, so you don’t disturb any burrowing insects that are hibernating.
Unless you’re growing a winter crop, it’s best to mulch garden beds in the fall to protect the soil and less hardy perennials.
Spread a ten-centimeter layer of shredded leaves, straw, or wood chips on bare ground and around existing plants (leaving space between the stems and mulch) to offer some insulation. Rake away or till in any material that didn’t decompose by spring to clear up the planting space.
Finally, fall is the best time to take care of all your gardening tools for the season. Wipe down every hoe and trowel to prevent rust, and winterize everything with a motor to ensure it won’t freeze. You’ll likely need to drain the gas out of lawnmowers, weed-whackers, and other power tools.
Bring ceramics and clay pots indoors to prevent breakage, and wipe down every planting tray with a diluted bleach solution to protect against disease spread.
Though it may feel like a lot of work, taking time to clean the fall garden is the best way to enjoy a better growing space in the spring. Taking steps to prep the soil, remove weeds, and support beneficial insects helps everything stay healthy and thriving in the future.