:strip_icc()/cooljob-gardening-gloves-tout-77305d22ae714be9bc8473d15a8ad75c.jpg "Year-round gardening: fall cleanup begins in spring")
The weather is changing, the leaves are turning beautiful bronzes, golds, and reds, and the days are getting shorter—all signs of fall. Take advantage of this opportunity now to clean up your landscape and prepare it for happy, healthy spring growth.
Prune, prune, die: Rather than pruning all the plants in your garden now, leave some plants undisturbed during the winter months. Some herbaceous perennials will survive winter better, at least if their basal leaves remain in place. A small amount of clippings provides a neat, tidy appearance, while the remaining plants provide visual interest and support overwintering wildlife with seed food and underground habitat. Collect all the seeds of special plants to plant next year, then the wilted flowers will die.
Abbreviation:
• Plants that are attacked by disease (for example, plants that are attacked by powdery mildew).
• Spent bulbs (e.g. alliums and daffodils).
• Selected perennial grasses (e.g. iris, peony and lily).
• Long grass, especially if loose patches and pockets predominate.
Don't abbreviate:
• Choose hardy perennials (e.g. agastache, hot drum, chrysanthemum).
• Evergreen perennials (e.g. dianthus, hellebore, heucheras).
Vegetable Garden: All plant material and plant debris should be removed from the vegetable garden so that pathogenic microorganisms are unable to overwinter in the area and infect next year's crops.
Weeding: Remove weeds and identifiable seed heads to ensure a clean appearance and facilitate plant growth in spring.
Pruning: Remove dead, damaged, and diseased branches of trees and shrubs. Don't prune healthy shrubs and trees in the fall, as this can stimulate tender new growth that can later be damaged by a hard frost.
Weeding and mowing: Piles of wet, fallen leaves can damage the lawn, block sunlight and reduce oxygen intake. Wrap or bag broken and swollen leaves in a tarp for disposal. Alternatively, use a mulch cutter to cut the leaves. They break down quickly and stay in place to feed your lawn. If the accumulation of leaves on the soil exceeds 10% of the surface, the leaves need to be removed; they can be used as winter mulch for plants.
Cleaning: Wash garden pots and seedling starter pots. Drain and attach a garden hose.
Compost: Plant residues, burnt fruit and vegetables, and tree leaves (except oaks) are ideal for composting. Green plant matter (nitrogen source) is balanced with fall foliage (carbon source). Avoid adding diseased plants, weed seeds, unwanted replanting, and tree trunks. If you don't have a trash can, go to a local facility like Rocky Top Resources that accepts and recycles landscape waste.
Sharp: Gardening tools are essential. Don't forget to clean and sharpen scissors, scissors, knives, saws and other garden tools. Coat the tool with a light coat of varnish and store it in a bucket filled with sand to protect the edges. Sharpen the mower blades.
Documentation: Cleaning up the landscape provides a good update on what's working well and what's not. Remember the following lesson: Learning from history is more beneficial than repeating mistakes.
Send gardening questions to csumg2@elpasoco.com. These questions will be answered via our remote help desk system. Find us on Facebook at Colorado Master Gardeners - El Paso County.
