It’s a common belief that everything in the yard and garden needs to be cut down and cleaned out in the fall. While that’s true in some cases, it can be unnecessary, and sometimes even counterproductive.
Perennial Gardens
You don’t need to clear out your perennial garden before or after the first freeze. Leaving stems, leaves, dried flowers, and seed heads provides ornamental winter interest, protects the soil, and supports wildlife. Birds and beneficial insects rely on the leftover plant matter throughout the cold months when shelter and resources are hard to find. The best time to clean up perennial gardens is in the spring. Consider using mulch to protect plant roots and suppress weeds over the winter.
Vegetable Gardens
A thorough fall clean-up is essential in vegetable gardens. Leaving plant debris behind can harbor pests and diseases that may affect next year’s crops. Compost healthy material for home composts, but take any diseased plant material to a compost site or any compost pile that reaches 140°F to kill any pathogens.
Woody Trees and Shrubs
Avoid pruning in the fall. Cutting back branches during the fall can trigger new growth, which is especially vulnerable to frost. The safest time to prune trees and shrubs is late winter or early spring: their dormant season. You can prune dead or diseased limbs in the fall.
Lawn Care
What should you do with fallen leaves? Proper leaf removal is important, especially if you’ve recently planted new grass. While leaves aren’t toxic to grass, they create shade that can hinder growth in cool-season lawns like Fescue and Bluegrass. Fall is the ideal time to fertilize your cool season lawns as it will strengthen roots, improve winter hardiness, and promotes faster green up in the spring. Warm season lawns like Bermuda and Buffalo should be fertilized in the spring to avoid stimulating growth before dormancy. Fall is also the perfect time to aerate your lawn and any areas with compacted soils. It is not recommended to aerate your lawn in the spring. Mulching leaves can improve soil quality, especially in heavy clay soils common in our area.
Hardscape/tools
Do your future self a favor this fall and drain hoses and irrigation systems to avoid pipes bursting, cleaning your gutters to prevent clogs and ice dams, and clean/oil your garden tools before storing them away for the season.
Fall Clean-Up: What to Do