It’s time to wrap up things in the yard so you can spend your time relaxing inside where it is nice and warm. Take some time before the rain comes to finalize things outside before it is cold AND rainy!
Not sure where to start? Here’s a few quick tips!
In the yard
Protect tender garden plants you wish to keep by overwintering them in a cool well lit place. Most home temperatures are too warm for garden plants to remain healthy. And, just a reminder: critters that are dormant in the soil would love to live in your home- so unless you are repotting in fresh soil- keep these garden plants out of the house or you might find yourself with some new roommates. Tender plants can live happily in a garage window or covered porch.
Trim back extra foliage, clean up all the leaves and get rid of anything else that looks spent.
If you don’t have room to overwinter the entire plant, you can easily take cuttings and start new plants for next year out in the garage.
Watering practices change during cooler weather. Remember you want to hold these plants over, not encourage new soft growth. Water sparingly. Water before a cold snap to prevent root damage.
If you have any citrus or gardenia, you’ll want to throw a protective cover over them.
In the garden
Trim back spent perennials.
Clean up and weed garden beds.
Mulch the beds with leaves, straw, or newspaper with soil over the top. Mulch helps prevent loss of nutrients from rainfall and it keeps weed seeds from sprouting. These mulches are easily dug in to improve soil in the spring.
In the vegetable garden
If you haven’t cleaned up the vegetable garden, do it now. Did you have fungus or bug problems? Don’t compost if that is the case. Toss it in the bin! Less worry for the next season.
Clean up vegetable waste.
Do you have a winter garden? Onions, garlic, sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, winter peas, and carrots can remain in the ground.
Weed and then mulch between the rows.
The best part of putting the garden to bed is the extra time you’ll have to browse a fun seed catalog for next year (we stock Territorial Seeds at Summit Ace- you can request the 2021 catalog by clicking here)or take some time to research about different gardening tips and tricks.
There is a wealth of knowledge online. Consider joining a gardening group on Facebook or look into the fun online options that OSU Extension service is offering. Click here to check out their courses!