Cleaning up the garden in the fall is a necessary, if sad, task. I know I always feel sad as I rake up the dead leaves, pull frost-blighted annuals, and toss brown flowers on the compost pile. Fall cleanup is, however, a very necessary task for several important reasons.
Prevents Insects from Wintering Over in Debris
Lurking underneath those innocent-looking fallen leaves are eggs, larvae, and sheltering insects who are ready, willing and able to breed minion armies for next year. Some of them are the “good guys” of the garden, the predatory insects who eat bad bugs and basically keep the things that hurt your plants in check. Others, however, are the bad guys, the ones you want to kill. Doesn’t it make sense to get them now, while they’re vulnerable, by raking or removing spent plants, than to douse your garden with pesticides later on?
To prevent insects from wintering over:
- Cut back dead foliage on perennial plants. Discard it in the trash if insects or diseases are present.
- Pull out spent annuals and discard them.
- Rake leaves from the grass and garden.
- Deadhead, or snip off the spent flowers on plants such as Echinacea.
- Remove and discard dead vegetable plants.
Other Fall Garden Clean Up Tasks
- Rinse, dry and store pots, especially clay, terra cotta and resin pots and containers, indoors.
- Clean your tools, dry them and store them properly.
- Discard ripped gardening gloves…and start a list of things you need for next year!
- Stock up now on end of year sales on hard goods, such as garden stakes, plant markers and pots.
- Clean bird feeders before refilling and placing them outdoors.
- Take down your hummingbird feeder; clean it and store it for next year.
- Remove small garden accessories that can get damaged by snow.
- Drain fountains and bird baths and store them indoors for the winter.
- Add mulch to tender plants, such as straw mulch around strawberries.
- Place protection around plants such as fig trees that may need protection from frost and cold.
- Make sure you have at least one snow shovel IN the house…just in case you get snowed in!
My checklist on HubPages offers additional tasks for Fall Garden Clean Up.
