Fall Care Guide: Putting Your Garden to Bed

Editing this gardening inspiration blog for my friend Gwen has been gratifying, educational and at times, humbling.  Though I don’t have a formal education in landscape design or horticulture, I read voraciously about plants and caring for them.   I have thirty-four years of experience as a home gardener. But that doesn’t prevent me from making many common mistakes which have wasted time, labor (mine!) and money. 

​We want to prevent you from making the same blunders.  We hope that you are reading every blog we post to build up your knowledge.  We believe this information will help you grow into a more successful gardener.  Because a successful gardener is a happy gardener!

Autumn can catch us off guard, and depending on where you live, progress quickly.  Here are some important tasks that every gardener should accomplish now that summer has passed.

The Practical Stuff:  Regular Tasks that Matter

• Weeds: Remove perennial weeds.  Don’t let annual weeds go to seed or they will come back with vigor in the spring.
• Perennials:  Cut back perennials that don’t offer fall or winter interest.  This will save time for your spring cleanup. Coneflowers are a magnet for Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Goldfinches; don’t deadhead.  Leave as much as you can visually tolerate. A few of the pollinators that would welcome a stay in your ‘messy’ winter garden include plants that attract butterflies and moths.  For more information, read the Fall Garden Care for Pollinators from the Penn State extension.
• Garden Tools:  Clean and store garden tools with a little bleach and water.  Sharpen pruners and coat with linseed oil.
• Protect Plants from Animals:  Purchase deer repellent and spray as needed. Place a deer fence around tender tree bark to prevent damage from rutting.
• Plant: bulbs, trees, shrubs, lawn , and perennials.  Read our last blog for more details.
• Wash: garden gloves and hat.
• Mower Maintenance: Drain gas from mower, clean and sharpen blades.​

Common Garden Weeds Identifying And Controlling Common Weeds

Lawn Mower Engine Maintenance

HGTV: How to Clean and Care for Your Garden Tools in 8 Easy Steps

Problem Prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Fall is the time to prevent pest and disease issues in the winter and spring.

Pests
If you want to prevent mice, spiders and other pests from getting into your home, inspect pest entryways into your home and seal them.  Entrances may include areas below your siding, door/window seals, dryer vents, and soffit gaps. For more information on fall pest control, visit Family Handy Man for useful tips and videos.

Diseases 

• Remove the leaves of irises to prevent borers from eating the rhizomes in the spring.  All diseased leaves must be removed from the yard to prevent spreading diseases to plants or surrounding soil.
• Keep grass mowed until it stops growing.  Remove leaves to prevent winter injury and damage from fungal snow mold diseases.
• Prune trees and shrubs to remove all dead and seriously cankered wood.
• Provide winter protection for roses, evergreens, young trees, and sensitive plants to prevent injury from wind and rock salt.  Broken limbs are more susceptible to infections through their open wounds. 

Plan Ahead

Plan ahead by making a map of your flower and vegetable gardens.

• Rotate annuals to another area of the garden to reduce soil borne pathogens that cause Rhizoctonia and Fusarium root rots. Now is also a great time to make soil amendments to improve soil drainage. Phytophthora and Pythium root rots are known problems in poorly drained areas.

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• Identify areas for improvement and make note of flowering gaps, fall color needs, and important views you’d like to screen or create.  As the weather cools, I (Holly) will move this Rudbeckia out from the shadow of the Rhododendron, Coneflowers, and Hosta. I’m pretty certain it showed up as a “volunteer” a few years ago; it’s matured into a perfect size to transplant.

Purchase Garden Journal And Planner

Holly's Garden

Play

Play before putting your garden to bed.

•  Take a spin around the garden centers and capture some final sales.  If it is too late to plant, just overwinter the plants in a cold garage. Proven Winners has informative tips on overwintering pots. https://www.provenwinners.com/overwintering-perennials-shrubs
  
•  Visit an arboretum and note the beautiful fall colors.  Consider adding one to your garden next year.
  
•  Enjoy the harvest and collect seeds. Check out Fine Gardening for seed collecting details. https://www.finegardening.com/article/collecting-and-storing-seeds
  
• Shop local:  Grab a friend.  Go apple picking and visit your farmer’s market for final vegetable treasures.​

There is still plenty to do in your fall garden.  The good news is that every single task has a purpose, and will prevent frustration in the coming seasons.  Have a joyful, colorful autumn!