Now that the days are shorter and flowers are fading is there really anything I must do in my landscape or garden? I’d like to take a break! It’s a slower time but there are a few things we should think about doing.

It’s time to be getting ready for winter. If we don’t take care of these items we can create more work and possibly expense for ourselves later. They are no biggies so just relax and pace yourself. Enjoy!

Some of us are missing the rain that has been in the area lately and our yards are dry, very dry down deep. Be sure the plants in your landscape, particularly those evergreens and trees and shrubs planted this year, are kept well watered now and when the ground begins to freeze. Don’t let plants go into winter dry. Serious damage can occur if this happens.

Don’t forget to disconnect hoses from outside faucets before freezing temperatures occur or you can experience some costly repairs from freezing pipes.

Avoid letting leaves accumulate on lawn areas. They should be removed while they are dry. Compost them for an excellent additive to your garden soils. When the leaves become wet and packed together on your turf they can cause serious damage resulting in dead areas and excessive weeds like crabgrass can develop in the lawn in the future or the necessity to reseed lawn areas.

Winter weeds like dandelions and chickweed will continue to grow in the late fall, surviving the winter and they will explode in early spring causing major clean-up problems just when you are the busiest in the spring. Dig them out of your flower beds this fall.

Be sure to feed your lawn so your yard goes into the winter months well fed and ready to start spring growth with vigor that will crowd out weeds. This is the most important feeding all year.

Any pruning that needs to be done should wait until the mid November so new growth is not stimulated. Late growth in the fall may not “harden off” adequately and damage can occur to this new growth from cold temperatures coming soon.

Clean off any annuals that are looking rather ugly. It is a good time to put down some fresh mulch after the clean up to protect the roots of your plants and to give a fresh look to the landscape. Less than an 1” in depth will be ample if you already have mulched these areas earlier this year.

You can cut back any ugly perennials like dead daylily stalks or damaged leaves. If the seed heads from other perennials are appealing to you, leave them. When the snow flies they will add another dimension to your garden. The stems many times will collect leaves and these leaves will provide some protection to the roots of the perennials.

It is time to clean off the vegetable garden. Dispose of all the tomato plant debris, especially if you had any problems with your tomato plants dying back. If you are going to leave the plant debris be sure to stack any tomato debris away from the area where you plan to plant tomatoes next spring.

Happy gardening, enjoy the slower pace of the fall season Go to meadowview.com or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your question or comments.

31 years of growing

Meadow View Growers

www.meadowview.com

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