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Fall Gardening Tasks

© Diana Pederson

Fall is a good time to make some notes about what you liked or did not like in your garden this year. Writing this information down in a garden notebook or journal will prevent you from "forgetting" next winter/spring as you plan your 2004 garden. Some things to write down include:

• Plants you want to remove
• Plants you want to add
• Plants you need to divide
• Colors you want to add to your garden for next year
• Time periods lacking color

Some Garden Tasks to do in the Fall

Fall is my favorite time for digging new garden beds. I dig the bed up and cover it with a good 6 inches of chopped leaves. This is allowed to sit over the winter with the earthworms working on processing those leaves into useful organic matter for next year's garden.

Did some new neighbors move in recently? Consider offering them some plants that have overgrown their spaces in your garden. This past week, I was able to donate some plants to my church garden and to a new neighbor. I sure love looking at those empty spots because it means I will have spaces to add plants in the spring.

Clean out all diseased plants. Getting them out of your garden will help avoid spreading the disease to other plants or having it restart in the spring. Don't put diseased plant material in your compost pile!

Feed your soil by putting down a thick layer of chopped leaves (6-8 inches is enough) to protect perennial roots over the winter. The worms will munch away all winter turning these leaves into castings full of nutrients for next year's plant growth. If a particular plant is prone to winter rot, be sure to keep the leaves away from its crown.

Will you need a snow barrier to protect shrubs during the winter? Put up stakes or fencing over which you can wrap plastic or burlap as a snow barrier. I have several shrubs in my shrub border which are borderline hardy to Michigan. I am hoping this snow barrier will help protect them from brutal winter winds, thus allowing them to survive.

One of my favorite fall tasks is to add spring bulbs to my gardens. If you thought to make notes, check your spring journal to see where and what you wish to add. Alternatively, find some new varieties that you haven't used before. Special note: If you have squirrels that like to move your bulbs elsewhere, place a layer of chicken grit under the bulbs before planting them, and cover the bulbs with a sheet of hardware cloth (1/4" mesh) to make your bulb planting area unattractive to these critters.

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