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Fall Gardening Tips: Prepare Your Garden for Winter

Collect seeds, clean up garden debris and do one final weeding to get everything in shape

By Anna Champagne

Preparing your garden for winter creates a thriving ecosystem for your plants and keeps your outdoor spaces looking their best. Some specific things you can do each fall include collecting seeds, cleaning up garden debris, improving soil, insulating plants, reducing weeds and creating new gardens. The following fall gardening tips will help you accomplish each task with minimal expense, effort and tools.

Yellow flowers and a blue butterfly house. Next Avenue, fall gardening
Some butterflies, including swallowtails, overwinter in gardens in a protective chrysalis and remain in it until spring.  |  Credit: Anna Champagne

Collect Seeds

Collecting seeds from your flowers and plants is a cost-effective way to get seedlings for next year's garden and increase the number of plants in your yard. You can collect seed heads and pods in the fall when they turn brown and feel brittle.

Collecting seeds from your flowers and plants is a cost-effective way to get seedlings for next year's garden and increase the number of plants in your yard.

Spread the collected seeds on a paper towel and store them in a cool, dry place for about a week. Then, put the dried seeds in labeled bags, envelopes or jars in a cool, dark cupboard or refrigerator. Most seeds can be stored for a year or two.

You can sow some native plant seeds in late fall or winter (depending on your climate and what you are planting). This helps to mimic natural conditions and results in strong seedlings. You can also wait until spring to start seeds indoors or sow directly into your garden space.

Clean Up Garden Debris

Cleaning up garden debris, including fallen leaves, dead plants and spent fruits, can reduce the risk of mold and fungal infections that could harm your flowering perennials and other plants. It also helps to prevent pests from finding food and shelter in the debris.

You can keep things simple by cutting the stems of vegetable plants near the ground and leaving the roots to decompose and feed the critical microorganisms in the soil. Most native flower stalks and stems can be left standing to provide food and shelter for non-migrating birds, butterflies and bees and help them survive the winter.

Leaving the leaves is also recommended nowadays. To keep things tidy, shred dry fallen leaves with a lawnmower. Then, place a layer of the shredded leaves in your garden. Eventually, they'll decompose into a nutrient-rich humus that's great for plants.

Improve Soil Structure and Fertility

Soil loses its good stuff over time, especially when plants grow in the same spot year after year. Eventually, you end up with nutrient deficiencies, pH imbalances, soil compaction and other issues that hinder root growth and plant production. Amending the soil with organic compost can correct these issues and improve soil structure and fertility.

A yellow bird perched on a flower. Next Avenue, fall gardening
Some birds, like the American goldfinch, eat flowerhead seeds throughout the winter  |  Credit: Anna Champagne

Fall is an excellent time to amend the soil because the cooler temperatures and increased rainfall accelerate microbial activity and give organic amendments time to decompose before spring planting and the upcoming growing season.

You can give your soil a boost by spreading one to three inches of organic compost on top of your garden area. You can use a shovel, garden fork, rototiller, or turning tool to mix the compost into the soil to a depth of about three to six inches, but this step isn't absolutely necessary. The good stuff in the compost will trickle down to the soil beneath.

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Insulate Plant Roots

Protecting your delicate perennial plants from the harsh winter elements can be crucial for their survival. Insulating plant roots with mulch is a simple yet effective way to increase their chances of surviving the winter.

Organic materials like wood chips, shredded leaves and straw make good mulch and help trap heat to insulate roots. These materials can also prevent frost heaving, which causes plants to be pushed out of the soil if the ground thaws and refreezes.

Weeding after a good rain will increase your chances of getting the entire root system.

Three to four inches of mulch will be enough for most plants in most climates. You can reduce the chances of plant rot by ensuring the mulch isn't in direct contact with plant stems.

Reduce Habitat for Pests

Weedy areas can provide a habitat for pests like aphids, cutworms, cabbage worms and whiteflies. These pests overwinter in weedy areas and emerge in the spring to devour their favorite plants.

Pulling weeds before they go to seed is the best way to eliminate them in the fall, but waiting until after the first frost can weaken weed roots and make them easier to pull by hand. Weeding after a good rain will increase your chances of getting the entire root system. Mulching afterward with organic materials, like wood chips, straw or shredded leaves, can create a barrier to suppress weed growth throughout the winter.

Create a No-Dig Garden

No-dig gardening is the perfect approach if you want to easily suppress weeds or quickly convert a grassy lawn area into a flower or vegetable garden.

A small garden box. Next Avenue, fall gardening
A no-dig garden in progress  |  Credit: Anna Champagne

To start, lay plain brown cardboard on top of the weeds. Make sure there are no gaps; overlap the cardboard if necessary. Saturate the cardboard with water from your hose. Then, place two to three inches of compost on top.

The cardboard will break down by next spring, leaving you with a rich patch of soil to grow flowers or vegetables. To maintain your garden space, add an inch or two of compost to the top every spring or fall. You don't have to work the compost into the soil — you have a no-dig garden!

Anna Champagne is an outdoor writer, photographer, and traveler. She can often be found gardening and birdwatching in her backyard and exploring creeks, trails, marshes, and parks with her husband. You can learn more about her on her website. Read More
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