It is late in the gardening season. As I write this, frost has not yet descended upon the Twin Cities to put a finishing touch to our gardening efforts.
BUT DO NOT RELAX! There is still so much to be done this year that will make next year’s garden even better.
If you haven’t done so, grab a camera and take detailed pictures of your entire garden. These will serve as a permanent catalog of your gardening successes and failures (lessons). Use those pictures in the cold winter months as you dream and plan for next year. While the foliage is yet alive, record the varieties of plants into a notebook and note where they are located. Decide which plants will be divided in the spring and moved to another location (or better yet, donated to the local garden club plant sale). Check for and replace worn or faded labels. Aluminum or metal labels are the most durable. Labels written in permanent marker tend to fade in the sun and elements.
Late fall might be a good time to build fences to keep out deer and rabbits.
Many of our perennials will require winter protection, especially if they are marginally hardy in our climates (zone 5 or higher) or if they are young plants. Cut down dead stems and leaves. Remove all diseased plants and dispose of them. Composting may not destroy the disease organisms, and you do not want to reintroduce more problems into your garden next spring. Compost all other organic material. Mulch plants with 6 inches of clean straw, whole leaves, or pine needles, after the ground has frozen. Early mulching may encourage rodents to find a warm home in the mulch. Remove mulch from the crowns of perennials in the spring.
Dig in compost, aged manure, or chopped leaves to your existing garden or to newly prepared gardens. You cannot add too much compost to your garden. Run a lawn mower on the driveway to chop up fall’s free bounty of leaves from your lawn. Moonless nights are the best time to obtain bags of leaves from your neighbors without embarrassment. Fall is a good time to do a soil test; avoid the spring rush (see Soil Testing Laboratory, University of Minnesota for complete details).
Collect seeds from annuals and perennials. Seed collected from hybrid varieties are mongrels, their offspring will not breed true and you might see an interesting mixture of traits from the grandparent plants. If we don’t deadhead the flowers, many annuals and perennials will go to seed. They may reseed naturally at random in our gardens, or you may consider scattering seeds where you want color next spring. Collect and dry seeds if you want to wait to plant in spring. Fall is also a great time to plant native forbs and grasses. Many species of wild plants require a cold period (called stratification), before they are able to sprout later in the springtime. Many of our wildflowers rival any of the fancy cultivars found in garden centers, and will do well in our gardens with minimal care. Check Lynn Steiner’s book, "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota", to see some beautiful native plants. Take cuttings from coleus and geraniums to keep indoors over winter. Dig up your tender bulbs such as gladiolus, cannas, and dahlias; store in a cool place with temperatures above freezing (see Storing Tender Bulbs and Bulblike Structures by Mary Meyer).
Put up those bird feeders before the ground freezes. Clean and disinfect feeders before use, and clean them on a regular basis to prevent the spread of disease.
Keep watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes (usually after Thanksgiving). Adequate watering in the fall will lessen the chances of your plants drying out and dying during the winter. Enclose small trunks of shrubs and trees with ¼” wire hardware cloth to protect the bark from rodent damage.
Clean, oil, service, and sharpen all your garden equipment so you will be ready to go next year. Put away and lock all chemicals in a clean, dry place out of extreme heat or cold. Dispose of old or outdated materials. Now, take a break!
Happy
Gardening, Joe Baltrukonis