Putting Your Garden to Bed

Late fall is the end of the gardening season, but that does not mean it is the end of gardening chores. Putting your garden to bed correctly is essential so the soil, tools, and other garden features will be safe through the winter and ready to burst forth again in spring.

When Should You Put Your Garden to Bed?

The right time to put your garden to sleep for the winter depends on several factors. While some gardens in mild climates may be productive year-round, the last harvest and dates of the first frosts and freezes will help determine when it is best to winterize your garden. The type of garden also makes a difference, as covered gardens, greenhouses, and containers can have different growing seasons than open plots. Regardless of when you’re ready to put your garden to bed, however, the tasks for cleaning up the garden will be the same, and will help make your spring work much easier.

Winterizing Your Garden

There are a number of different tasks that should be done in the garden before winter arrives. To put your garden to bed…

• Prune Perennials Cut back any perennials that may suffer damage in winter’s harsh weather. This includes checking trees for damaged limbs and pruning appropriately so they will not break as ice and snow accumulates. Consider leaving some plants unpruned for birds and wildlife to use as food and shelter in the winter, but otherwise take care to neaten the garden to avoid damage.
• Clean Up Overgrowth If you have an overgrown bed, plants that need dividing, a collapsing brush pile, or other untidy area, fall is the time to clean it up. This will help keep unwanted wildlife from taking up residence over the winter, and any remaining roots or debris will decay over the winter months.
• Remove Annuals By definition, annuals are only at their best for a single season. While it can be sad to uproot and discard the plants you’ve carefully tended, now is the time to dispose of spent annuals. As with cleaning up overgrowth, this will allow the soil to rest and recover as any remaining bits of roots decay during the winter to enrich the spring’s soil.
• Save Seeds If you want to save seeds from your annuals or perennials to use the following spring, fall is the time to gather them. Collect the plumpest, healthiest seeds, and store them in paper envelopes or small jars with loose lids. Keep the seeds in a cool, dry location, and label each container so you are sure which seeds are which before spring planting.
• Plant Fall Bulbs Certain bulbs do well overwintering in the garden and will be among the first plants to sprout in spring if they’re carefully planted in fall. Early flowers, rhubarb, and garlic are some of the best fall bulbs, but be sure you plant them carefully and mark where they are in the garden so you don’t accidentally disturb them in the spring.
• Consider a Cover Crop Planting a cover crop is a great option to protect your garden during the winter and enrich the soil for spring. Cover crops protect the soil from encroaching weeds and seasonal erosion, while providing organic material to serve as nourishment for spring planting. Winter rye, buckwheat, red clover, and rapeseed are great options.
• Keep Watering The growing season may be finished, but it isn’t time to stop watering trees, shrubs, and perennials, even if they aren’t growing as vigorously. Water plants until they are fully dormant, and the water will help insulate the soil and keep the plants lush to protect them from frosts and freezes.
• Protect Water Sources Once freezes threaten, it is time to disconnect and protect your water sources. Depressurize or winterize sprinkler systems, drain hoses and store them in a garage or shed, and cover outdoor spigots to lower the risk of frozen winter pipes.
• Till the Soil Gently tilling your garden in late fall will unearth any burrowing grubs and beetles, which autumn birds will happily feast on. This helps minimize these pests in your garden, and tilling will also break up and damage late season weeds so they don’t have a chance to get established for spring growth.
• Keep Weeding Even if you opt not to till your garden, you should continue weeding until the ground has frozen. Every weed you pull in fall is one less that will start growing in spring, taking over the garden before the seeds, seedlings, and plants you want can get established.
• Add Compost and Manure Topping your garden and landscaping beds with a layer of compost or aged manure will not only provide protective insulation, but the material will break down throughout the winter to replenish the soil’s nutrients so it is rich and lush for spring planting.
• Add Mulch A layer of mulch is another way to protect plants and beds from the harshest winter weather. Shredded leaves, grass clippings, and pine needles are easy, natural mulches that can insulate your plants and garden. They will also decay through the winter, adding more nutrients to the garden soil.
• Store Decorations Remove any delicate decorations in your garden, such as plant stakes, flags, colorful containers, bird baths, gazing balls, figurines, or other ornaments that could be damaged over the winter. Clean each one, and store them carefully in a garage, shed, or other safe place until they can be put out in spring.
• Clean Garden Tools Once you’re finished with your garden tools for the season, clean, sharpen, and oil them before storing them for winter. Repair handles, drain any fuel, and take other necessary steps so they will be ready for easy, productive use when warm weather returns.
• Repair Structures Check any arbors, trellises, sheds, benches, and other garden structures for damage or weakness, and repair them before winter makes that damage worse. If a structure will need to be completely replaced, remove it before winter sets in, even if you won’t replace it until spring.
• Take Notes Before you forget what you liked and disliked about your garden this year, take notes on what worked and what didn’t, what ideas you had, and what you want to remember for next year. Keep those notes with your garden supplies so you don’t forget the plans you’ve made when it’s time to wake your garden up in the spring.

It might seem overwhelming to prepare your garden for winter, but by tackling one task at a time, you can easily put your garden to bed so it will be well prepared to wake up refreshed and ready to grow in spring.