Readying Your Yard for Autumn and Winter
As the leaves change colour and the days grow shorter, it's time to prepare your garden for the upcoming cold months. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to care for your vegetable, berry, perennial, tree, and shrub gardens, as well as general pre-winter activities and tool storage.
Vegetable and Herb Gardens
- Harvest all remaining warm-season fruits and vegetables before the first frost. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and herbs like basil (which dies quickly in cold) should be picked substantially.
- Unripe tomatoes can be brought indoors to ripen in paper bags substantially.
- Remove diseased or fallen leaves promptly to prevent disease and pest overwintering; compost healthy plant debris but discard diseased material substantially.
- Consider planting frost-tolerant plants if early fall permits substantially.
- After harvest, apply mulch over beds to protect roots and retain moisture during winter substantially.
- Feed garden soil with organic fertiliser or compost to nourish roots, which remain active in winter substantially.
Berry, Perennial, Tree, and Shrub Gardens
- Perform pruning of woody shrubs and certain plants like wisteria and roses as appropriate in the fall substantially.
- Apply organic mulch around trees and shrubs to protect roots and conserve moisture substantially.
- Check and repair fences or garden infrastructure to secure plants through winter substantially.
- Prepare garden beds by adding compost or enriched soil to improve conditions for spring growth substantially.
General Pre-Winter Garden Activities
- Conduct thorough garden clean-up: rake leaves and clear debris to uncover pests and prevent disease substantially.
- Remove any plant parts showing signs of disease and dispose of them in the trash to avoid spreading infections substantially.
- Harvest abundantly; excess fruit can be dehydrated either in an electric dehydrator or oven to preserve harvest substantially.
Tool Maintenance and Storage
- Before winter, clean, tune-up, and properly store all gardening tools to prevent rust and damage substantially.
- Sharpen blades, oil moving parts, and store tools in a dry, sheltered location to prolong their lifespan substantially.
By following these steps, you protect your garden’s health over the cold months and set it up for a successful growing season come spring.
Additional Tips
- Small trees and tiny shrubs need protection from cold temperatures by surrounding them with a cylinder of snow fencing or straws, or packing them with shredded leaves.
- Continue to water shrubs and trees during the fall season, but stop once the soil freezes.
- Plant blueberries in late winter to ensure an excellent yield.
- Water perennials and flowering shrubs deeply during the fall season.
- Sage requires no coddling for the winter.
- Woody perennials should not be trimmed in the fall.
- Protect a new flowerbed from emergent growth by covering it with landscape fabric or mulch during the fall season.
- Rosemary is more fragile and will require shelter for the winter.
- Parsley is resistant to light frost but it will require a cover-up on cold nights.
- Leaves can be raked and used as mulch for perennial plants, or added to a compost pile.
- Summer berries like raspberries require pruning during the mid-fall.
- Remove all the wilted leaves, decaying plants, and unwanted debris to prep perennials for the cold season.
- Wait until the ground freezes before adding mulch to perennials.
- Most vegetables cannot withstand cold temperatures and require protection during fall and winter.
- Empty outdoor containers should be stored upside down before the cold season to prevent cracking.
- Delicate greens, like lettuces, cannot withstand the frost and will need more protection from the cold.
- Thyme is surprisingly resilient to cold climate but will go dormant in the fall season.
- Chives are quite hardy but have to be dug up and planted in a pot to be harvested throughout the winter season.
In the preparation for the cold months, consider planting frost-tolerant plants like sage and thyme in your home-and-garden, especially if early fallpermits. As you care for your vegetable and herb gardens, don't forget to maintain your home-and-garden tools by cleaning, tuning-up, and storing them properly to prevent rust and damage during the winter season.
