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5 Fall Garden Maintenance Tips to Make Spring Productive

December 3, 2015 By: Anna23 Comments

fall garden maintenance

I bet you think that once a hard frost delivers its lethal blow that gardening comes to a stand still for the year.  Actually the hard work begins–the old clean-up.  My husband tells me–“let it wait until Spring.”  But as a veteran gardener, that last thing you want to do is clean up last year’s garden in the Spring.  In addition to my other fall maintenance tips, here is what I am doing now in the late fall/early winter.  Join me.  You will thank me next Spring.

#1 Cut back SOME Perennials

Don’t go all pruning happy on me now.  Some perennials like to be trimmed now; while others need their girth to survive the winter.

fall garden maintenance feverfew

Leave the following plants alone to help them survive the winter:

  • Hellobornes
  • Russian Sage
  • Butterfly Bush (not to be confused with Butterfly weed.)
  • Artemisia (For example, wormswood, tarragon, and mugwort)
  • Astillbe
  • Frikart’s aster
  • Montauk daisy
  • Chrysanthemums,
  • Agastache
  • Red hot poker
  • Hardy geraniums
  • Heucheras,
  • Dianthus
  • Moss phlox.
  • Plants that are marginally hardy in your zone.

If you want some winter show, don’t cut the following down:

  • ornamental grasses
  • sedum

Leave for the birds:

  • Black eyed susan.
  • Echinacea. (Pictured above.)

Note, you may have more black eyed susan and echinacea seedlings in the spring if you leave them up.

Leave the woody ones alone!

I also have a rule if the plant is woody, leave it alone.  I don’t prune my lavender, hyssop, or hydrangeas until the spring.

I always leave about 3 inches of stem so I know where the plant was.  Some plants emerge much later than others and then I forget what was planted there.

The powder puffs plants.

Plants like feverfew (pictured above,) catnip, creeping thyme and chamomile that still have green leaves, I leave alone. I simply cut back the dead twigs or stems.

If you are a leave ’em type of gardener:

If you like to keep your dormant perennials plants intact for the winter, be sure to cut back the ones that suffered from disease (powdery mildew) or insect damage.  Purdue Extension explains:

“On the other hand, plants with disease or insect pest troubles should be pruned back in fall to reduce the chances of carryover to the following season. Sanitation is one of the best investments gardeners can make in reducing problems for next season. Peonies and Rudbeckia with blackened foliage should definitely be cut back in fall. The same is true for bee balm and phlox, which are routinely plagued by powdery mildew. Removing iris and asparagus foliage in the fall reduces overwintering sites for the iris borer and asparagus beetles, respectively.”

Spring clean-up of daylilies and irises is very hard and time consuming.  Prune them now.  Again, you will thank me.

What to use to trim?

If you have just a few plants, simply use your pruning shears.  I have a lot of perennial herbs and flowers and consequently use a battery powered trimmer.  (I use a Black & Decker Hedge Trimmer.)

I can’t carry anything heavier than this trimmer but it struggles when I try to cut down Joe Pye Weed twigs.  In addition, it only has a charge of one hour depending on how haed it has to work to cut certain plants.

#2 Get Out and Weed

Fall is the best time to weed.  I especially like to weed once I cut back the perennials.  I see all the weeds my heart desires.

My fall garden is abundant with dandelions and wild garlic.  So I make the extra effort to remove as many  weeds as I can now.  The Colorado State University Cooperative Extension explains:

“Weeds that are spread by seed produce thousands of seeds.  Lambsquarter can bear up to 72,500 seeds per plant, curly dock can bear up to 30,000, purslane 52,000, and redroot pigweed 117,000.   If even 50% of the pigweed seedlings germinated next spring, you’d have 58,000 pigweed plants to pull or otherwise get rid of.”

Who wants all those weeds?

Not me.

My tools of choice to remove weeds are as follows:

  • Fiskars Uproot Weed and Root Remover.  This tool saves my back and removes little dandelions and other small root plants.  It does not remove the entire larger dandelion stems.
  • A spade similar to a Fiskars Transplanting Spade to remove stubborn wild garlic.  (You can read about wild garlic HERE.)  Its blade is thin and doesn’t disturb as much soil as a regular shovel.
  • Fiskars Duraframe Scratch Weeder which removes long tap root like thistle and dandelions. (By the way, I have 3 of these since I always lose one in the garden and then discover it 3 months later.)

#3 Remove Vegetable Garden Debris:

Fall garden maintenance

I totally dismantle my garden.  All my cages are cleaned and put away.  Dead flowers, weeds and plants are removed.

You don’t want to encourage overwintering pests to nest in  your dead vegetable plants.  Some people add compost at this point to their beds. I do add some compost to some of my beds but the remaining beds have crop covers.  (Read about crop covers HERE.)

The only flowers left in the garden beds are snapdragons.  Sometimes, they re-seed themselves in my garden.  However, they are actually a tender perennial and overwinter in zone 8 and 9.

#4 Test Your Soil Now!

Fall is the best time to test your soil.  Soil tests are specific to a group of plants. (The tests are relatively inexpensive.)

In my case, I had to separately test the soil in my vegetable garden, fruit trees, blueberries, perennial herbs and lawn.  It was eye opening.

Once you soil test your garden, you will know exactly what those particular plants need.  Unfortunately, soil testing does not reveal if your plants need nitrogen.

Once you know what nutrients your plants need, you follow the instruction as to when to apply the needed nutrients.

You definitely will be ahead of the game in the spring.

Plus, who wants to spend money on fertilizers that your plants may not need?

Watch the video below on how to soil sample.

#5 Clean Your Equipment

Remove the dirt and rust from all of your shovels and pruners.  Then apply  vegetable oil to shovels if they are not stainless steel to keep them from rusting as well as the wooden handles.  Store them off the ground for the winter.

In addition, sharpen your pruners for next year using a bastard file. (Yes, that is the name of the file.) Watch Tricia from Growing Organics in the below video as she walks you through cleaning, sharpening and lubricating your equipment.

Be sure to also read my other Fall maintenance tips.

Join the Conversation:

What fall garden maintenance do you preform?

Disclaimer:  There may be affiliate links in this post.  Thank you for your continued support to help Green Talk keep pumping out great content.

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  • Oats and Rye Crop Cover. Reduces Erosion and Helps the Soil

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About Anna

Anna Hackman is the editor of Green Talk, and owner of The Naked Botanical and a avid (okay obsessed) gardener. She also loves video and podcasting and hosts Green Talk TV and Green Talk Radio. Her most important role is being a mother of four boys.

Chat with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , and Google+.

Comments

  1. 1

    Susan@learningandyearning says

    December 6, 2015 at 10:12 am

    Oh, clean the equipment. I tend to be a fail at that one. Thanks for the reminder!

    Reply
    • 2

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 11:03 am

      Susan, I dread cleaning my equipment but this year I am going to invest in a tool that sharpens my blades. Anna

      Reply
  2. 3

    Megan Stevens says

    December 6, 2015 at 10:45 am

    What a wealth; thank you, Anna! So much helpful information. Definitely pinning. Great to know about lavender! I never have much luck pruning it and need to figure that out. Doing it in the spring is a good beginning.

    Reply
    • 4

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 11:02 am

      Megan, I thought I killed my lavender one year but it came back. Praying helped. 🙂 Anna

      Reply
  3. 5

    Renee Kohley says

    December 6, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    So good to know about the woody ones! I was just thinking I wonder if I should do something with my lavender and I will just leave it alone til the spring then!

    Reply
  4. 6

    lindsay says

    December 8, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    Anna, How long have you been gardening? You have so many incredible tips! What do you recommend as the best way to test one’s soil?

    Reply
    • 7

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 3:03 pm

      Lindsay, I have been gardening for almost 10 years. You can get a test kit from your local county extension or state university. Most the time, they have the directions and you simply bag the dirt in a plastic bag and send it to them. Although there are soil tests that you can purchase from hardware stores, the ones done by testing labs are more accurate. Anna

      Reply
  5. 8

    karen says

    December 8, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    So glad you’re on the ball so I can reap what you sow next summer! 🙂

    Reply
    • 9

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 11:39 pm

      Karen, LOL. So now I have an excuse to grow more. I will tell hubs it is for you…Anna

      Reply
  6. 10

    Micaela @MindfulMomma says

    December 8, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    Very helpful to see a list of plants that you should NOT prune back. Thanks Anna!

    Reply
    • 11

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 11:40 pm

      Micaela, I actually have to take my own advice for next year. I did prune some of them since they were just sticks. Anna

      Reply
  7. 12

    Lori Popkewitz Alper says

    December 8, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    You are a wealth of information Anna! I have to admit that by the time fall rolls around I’m checked out of our garden. I’ll have to show this to my son who really took over this year. Thanks!

    Reply
    • 13

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 8, 2015 at 11:41 pm

      Lori, I understand. I have fall plants growing and am so tired. So, I am not being the best gardener right now. Anna

      Reply
  8. 14

    Marissa R says

    December 9, 2015 at 12:19 am

    I love your ideas! If I wasn’t renting my place right now, I’d be all over this. Maybe next year!

    Reply
    • 15

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 11, 2015 at 11:46 am

      Marissa, sounds like a plan to me! Anna

      Reply
  9. 16

    green Bean says

    December 9, 2015 at 2:05 am

    Thank you for mentioning leaving some seeds for the birds! It is so important to not have too clean a garden for our local wildlife. Pinning this handy list.

    Reply
    • 17

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 11, 2015 at 11:46 am

      Green Bean, I figure I am just going to have purple coneflowers everywhere. Anna

      Reply
  10. 18

    Betsy (Eco-novice) says

    December 9, 2015 at 2:11 am

    So many useful tips! Pinning.

    Reply
    • 19

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 11, 2015 at 11:44 am

      Betsy, I really appreciate the pin! Anna

      Reply
  11. 20

    Anne says

    December 9, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    What a great use of time in the fall/early winter! Great tips!

    Reply
    • 21

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 11, 2015 at 11:43 am

      Thanks Anne. Spring is just too darn busy to bother with this trimming. Anna

      Reply
  12. 22

    Sara says

    December 9, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Thanks for the useful advice as always. We moved to a new home and I had no idea what to do with all the lovely plants now that they’re gone for the year.

    Reply
    • 23

      Anna@Green Talk says

      December 11, 2015 at 11:42 am

      Sara, I hope my article helps. Congrats on the new home. Anna

      Reply

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