Autumn is officially here, so apart from the obvious perks – pumpkin spice everything, thick scarves, and apple pies – there’s stuff to be done. If you have a garden, you know that it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to prepare and get organized for the new season. Before the huge temperature drop, you can do bits and bobs, and preparing your garden during this season will make your spring garden much better. So here’s what you need to do now in order to enjoy your garden fully in spring.
Tidy Up Your Garden
First things first – you want to start off with a clean, tidy garden. Clean up any dead plants lying around in your garden, as well as the lawn debris. Are there any dead branches looming over your garden? Pick them up. Walk around and see if there are dropped fruit rotting on the ground. Any similar debris – get rid of it. Anything that’s organic you can add to your compost pile. Rip out all the weeds from the garden – if you do it now, you’ll prevent the weeds from growing down the line. While doing so, you can wear gardening gloves – this will prevent injuries. Also applicable when picking up various items – those branches can stick!
Cut Your Perennials
Perennials are cool – they will grow and survive almost all-year round, whatever the circumstances. But sometimes that’s not a great thing, as, if left unattended, they can soon take over your garden, which you might not like. To prevent this, cut them back in the autumn. You want to trim their stems to about 2.5-5 cm above the soil. Just grab a pair of quality gardening shears and trim the stems down until only a little bit is visible. Of course, your plant scraps go directly in the compost bin. Trimming the perennials will help the plants stay healthy in the low temperatures.
Inspect Your Trees
Things you need to be looking for: discolouration or growths on the leaves and branches. What to do if you find any? Just cut them off using gardening shears or strong scissors. In the case of young trees, they need protection as they grow, and during the winter, they will need your help with battling the temperatures. So give them a hand, and protect their trunks with a tree-guarding wrap.
Prepare the Soil for the New Season
Before you actually start the prep, make sure you’ve harvested all your vegetables and herbs. Dig up your final potatoes and carrots, and pluck whatever’s left out there. If you want to grow them again next year, don’t forget to collect seeds from them. Once you’ve done that, loosen the soil with a rake or hand tool. This will enable aerating the soil because all the walking over it has likely made it quite compact. Then it’s fertilizing time! Spread 2.5-5 cm of fertilizer or compost over the soil. This will replenish the lost nutrients, whether you will be growing crops soon or waiting until spring. And then the final step: pour a thin layer of mulch over your garden. This is important if you want to avoid pests and diseases, as well as weeds and rodents – and we bet you do!
Cover the Garden Furniture and Store the Tools
You really want to keep your garden furniture safe from the elements, so it can sleep throughout the colder period and wait for you on the sunny side. Use good covers and ensure that your garden furniture stays in top condition for the next season.
Another thing you should bear in mind is stocking your tools away. Of course, you probably keep them in a dry and secure place anyway, but occasionally some of the tools stay on the lawn or somewhere else. Keep all the tools stored away in winter, because the wet and cold weather can cause rusting and other deterioration. Before storing though, it’s a good time to give your tools a bit of maintenance: sharpen blades, clean air and oil filters, etc.
Bring Sensitive Species Indoors
Herbs, as well as tender begonias and dahlias, are sensitive to the cold, so take them indoors. Do this with herbs when you notice them wilting, and with the plants, do it 1-2 months before frost hits. Replant them in pots large enough to store their roots. Good places for herb containers and flower pots are window ledge, morning room, kitchen, foyer.
Invest your time in your garden several weekends in a row, and let the sight of a growing spring garden be your guide. Time flies by quickly anyway, so spring is almost here 🙂
