The money you spend on your yard and garden can be quite a significant investment, not to mention your time and effort if you do it yourself. As the growing season winds down, there is more to do than simple leaf clean-up if you want to protect your yard and garden from the ravages of winter weather.
Your lawn may need attention. A late fall feeding can promote healthy growth, strengthening the grass to survive the winter. Fall is a good time to reseed areas that need it. Be sure to mulch a newly seeded area to keep birds from having easy access to the seeds, and be sure that new grass receives plenty of water.
Since many insects and plant disease organisms winter-over in the soil and in infected plant debris, it is always a good idea to rake around perennials and dispose of plant trimmings and dead plant material after a good killing frost. If I haven't had much problem with insects or disease, I like to put these final rakings into a separate compost pile and use them to start a new pile the following spring. This way they will be used in a fresh compost pile when there will be lots of heat generated rather than just sitting in a cold pile over the winter. Any diseased material gets burned.
Replace mulch around your perennials after a killing frost and after you have trimmed and raked. Cover the remaining plant base with a few inches of loose organic mulch. Never use anything that will prevent water from seeping into the ground, including large, unshredded leaves that may pack into layers and create a barrier. You also want to be sure that air circulation can take place to avoid root rot.
Roses may require special care. The use of those Styrofoam "rose cones" to cover and protect your roses can actually do more harm than good in many areas of the country. Cones can act as little greenhouses, causing the rose to begin growing too early in the spring; the too early growth often gets frozen which can retard or even kill the rose. Rose cones also do not allow air circulation.
- Trim your rose canes back to about 18-24" tall.
- Rake away the trimmings and plant debris, leaving a clean surface around your rose.
- I like to use well dried grass clippings (never green!) or straw, and wrap the rose loosely with this material; tie it in place carefully with loose loops of soft cord or fabric strips.
- Cover the bush loosely with burlap, and tie it loosely in place.
Ceramic pots and containers that may fill with water and freeze should be moved into a protected area.
- Empty any potting soil into the compost pile and scrub out the containers with warm soapy water before storing, being sure to dry them thoroughly in the sun. Moisture that seeps into tiny cracks in the glaze or into unglazed clay pots will freeze and cause the pot to split and crumble.
- Move other ornaments and decorative items to safe storage before winter weather arrives.
- As soon as hummingbirds have completed their migration, clean and store the feeders.
- Now is the time to set up your bird feeders for the winter, and put in a supply of seed. Store your seed in a large canister or sealed tub to keep mice out.
- Cover garden furniture, or move it into storage.
Be sure to turn off the water supply to outside faucets and spigots. If you have a sprinkler system or a garden irrigation system, these should also be drained.
Sources: Personal experience.
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