Fall Garden Tasks

Fall Garden Tasks

Cutting Back

1. Cut back spent perennials to prevent slugs and other insects from hiding in the leaves over winter. 
2. Wait until a frost has caused the plants to dieback. You don't want to encourage new growth that will be hit again. Start with diseased plants and dispose of that debris; don't compost diseased plant material.
3. Divide over-crowded plants such as iris, Hosta, Day and Canna lilies, and Shasta daisies

Cleaning Up

1. Harvest everything above ground in the vegetable garden before the first hard frost.  Mature, green tomatoes can be ripened by wrapping them individually in newspaper. Carrots, beets, parsnips and potatoes should also be harvested and stored. If left in the ground, they help pests (e.g. carrot rust fly) become established in your garden
2. Remove rotted fruit from around trees and pull out annual vegetable plants. Rotten fruit and diseased plant material can harbor pests and diseases for the following year.
3. Clean up overgrown areas, to prevent animals and pests moving in and to make it easier in the spring.
4. Take care of your tools and containers.

• Empty, clean & bring in containers. If disease was a problem last year, disinfect containers by spraying with 1:10 bleach solution.
• Clean and store stakes, cages and garden ornaments.
• Clean and sharpen tools, before storage. Remove all caked on soil, sharpen edges with a file and give them a protective finish with a light coating of oil.
• Drain hoses and disconnect hose bibs from any valves or connectors

Plant

1. Get flowering bulbs, garlic and rhubarb in the ground, before it freezes.   Cover with 3” mulch.
2. Sow seeds of spinach and mache (corn salad). They’ll start growing for you in early spring.
3. Plant a cover crop on any bare soil to prevent erosion.
4. Fall is a great time for planting trees and shrubs, because they can put all their energy into their roots.
5. Perennial plants need to be watered during dry falls. They may be going dormant, but they're not dead.

Protect

1. Put fencing around shrubs. Use tree guards for trees bothered by deer, rabbits and voles.
2. Make sure all tender bulbs are stored for the winter. Most like to be hit by a light frost before being dried.
3. Mound soil or mulch around the base of grafted roses. Remember to remove it in the spring.

Prep for Spring

1. Pull weeds, especially perennial weeds.  Pulling those weeds now, when the conditions are poor for them to fill back in, will cut down on problems in the spring.
2. Tag plants you want to divide in the spring.
3. Compost & Soil

• Test and amend your soil. Amendments added now will become available in the spring.
• Prepare your planting beds now, with compost and manure, for planting in early spring. The freezing and thawing will work it into the soil for you.
• Start a compost pile. Use all the non-diseased material you pulled out of the beds.
• Shred or mulch your leaves. They are free fertilizer and practically compost themselves.
• Mulch for less weeds in the spring and better soil. A layer of mulch in the fall will suppress weed seed germination in the spring, while also protecting your plants. Just make sure you weed first.