As nighttime temperatures turn chilly, the gardening season is starting to wind down and it’s time to start preparing the garden for winter.
Clean and store any breakable lawn ornaments, containers, or other items that are not frost-proof.
Don’t do any pruning this late in the season unless it’s to remove a broken or damaged branch. Save pruning tasks for late winter when plants are dormant.
Ornamental Garden
Plant spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, Dutch irises, and alliums after the ground temperature drops below 60° F.
For a head start on next year’s blooms, seeds or transplants of cool-season annuals (particularly of pansies and violas) may be planted in October. They need to be well established in the soil before freezing winter weather arrives.
After a frost blackens the foliage of tender perennials (such as canna, dahlia, caladium, alocasia, tuberose, and gladiolus), dig up the bulbs or roots and prepare them for winter storage. Cut off all foliage, clean off soil, and pack loosely in peat moss or vermiculite in open baskets or cardboard boxes. Store in a cool, dry, dark, frost-free place. Label the bulbs so that you can easily identify them next spring.
Continue dividing and replanting overcrowded perennials up to about 6 weeks before the ground freezes.
Plant or transplant trees and shrubs before the ground freezes. Keep them well watered until they become dormant.
Bag all dispersed foliage and stems from peonies, garden phlox, roses, and any other perennials that are prone to develop fungal diseases and dispose of the debris in the trash. This will reduce the overwintering of Botrytis blight, mildew, and other fungal spores.
Collect fallen tree leaves and chop them into small pieces to help them decompose.
Spread netting over water features to keep falling leaves and other debris from accumulating in water.
Don’t become overzealous in cleaning up flower beds. Consider leaving some seed-bearing perennials in place to provide food and sanctuary for birds during the winter months.
Save, clean, sort, and label seeds from your favorite annuals fro planting next spring. Store them in an envelope or clean glass jar in a cool, dry place.
Leave seed heads in place for annuals that you want to self-seed. Alternatively, just scatter the seeds where you want them to sprout next year.
Edible Garden
Monitor weather reports and be prepared to protect the vegetable garden from frost damage. Cover vulnerable groups with frost covers, which can provide several degrees of protection.
Following a frost when asparagus foliage has turned brown, cut it back within 2 inches of the ground to help control pests and diseases.
Pick herbs and either dry or freeze him. Or try potting up some herbs from the garden to enjoy over the winter by giving them a sunny spot on the window sill.
If a frost is predicted, harvest immature tomatoes while still green (and preferably just starting to show some color) and ripen them indoors. For just a few tomatoes, place them in a bag with a ripening banana or apple and store at room temperature. For a larger quantity of tomatoes, wrap them individually in newspaper, place them in a single layer in a cardboard box, and store the box in a dark, dry spot.
Plant garlic and shallots in the latter half of the month to harvest next year. Cover them with a layer of straw for winter protection.
Harvest sweet potatoes before the first frost. Cure them by holding them for about 10 days at 80-85° F and high relative humidity (85-90%). Curing them converts starch to sugar.
To prolong your harvest, set up hoops for frost covers over vegetable beds before the first frost occurs.
Lawn
It’s not too late to re-seed the lawn — although the earlier, the better.
It’s also not too late to core, aerate, and de-thatch the lawn, if needed.
Tackle cool-season weeds such as chickweed, dandelion, wild onion, and plantain as it sprouts in the lawn and in flower beds. The more you remove now, the less you will have to deal with next spring.
