Fall Garden and Landscape Maintenance Tips

As the end of summer approaches, the growing season comes to an end. But don’t put your garden and lawn care tools away just yet. This is a good time to scrutinize your garden and yard for landscape maintenance purposes.

Providing fall preparations for next year’s growing season will help ensure a graceful entry into the following spring, with a green lawn and garden space nearly ready for planting. Just follow the helpful tips below:

Don’t wait until spring for garden preparation, and to divide your overgrown perennials; do it now. This not only provides a jump start for quicker blooms, but healthier blooms, as well.

Move potted patio and hanging plants indoors, or bury the pots in the ground in regions with less intense winters so that plants will survive.

Slugs breed in the fall. If slugs are a big problem for your garden, this is a good time to set out traps, but only if absolutely necessary. Beneficial bugs and small creatures will also be put at risk. You can make a slug trap by filling an empty (unwashed) tuna tin with beer. Place the tin in a shady spot in the soil so that the rim is at ground level. Maintain the trap every few days by emptying it out and refilling it.

Because trees and shrubs continue to lose moisture in the winter, this is a good time to give them a watering boost. Part of your landscape maintenance should be to deeply water trees and shrubs before hard frosts begin.

If you have flowering shrubs, some of them might need fall pruning. Spring-flowering shrubs begin to develop flower buds that won’t open until the following spring. These type shrubs should be pruned early; immediately after flowering. Pruning them too late risks removal of developing buds for next year’s flowering season. Summer-flowering shrubs, however, develop buds during the early spring. The best time to prune them is during the dormant season; just as fall turns to winter or late winter is fine.

Clean woody debris and fallen leaves out of ponds.

Rake leaves off your yard. Apply a thin layer of well-aged manure to the lawn to promote new spring growth and improve underlying soil.

As part of garden preparation for the following spring, use the leaves raked up from your lawn as mulch for flower beds. Not only will tender perennials be protected through the winter, but the decaying leaves will help build soil nutrients. Dry, excess leaves can be bagged in airtight bags to add to compost piles later.

Planting a cover crop, such as clover or annual rye grass, in bare flower beds or vegetable gardens will help improve the soil for next years planting. This can be done by preparing the bed or garden area after the final harvest, early enough to allow growing time. First, enrich the soil with compost or well-aged manure; then seed with the cover crop. In the spring, a few weeks before planting season, till the plants under.

If you haven’t the time for fall garden and landscape maintenance work yourself, acquire the services of a professional landscaper. Select a reliable garden and landscape design and maintenance expert. One with just the right lawn care tools and know-how to keep your yard in tip-top shape.

By taking the time in the fall for garden and lawn maintenance, you will reap rewards the following spring. With healthier, greener yards, and robust garden growth your neighbors are sure to envy!

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