Well, it’s about that time of the year to think about cleaning up your garden to get ready for winter. Saying goodbye for the winter is a depressing part of the cycle of gardening, but remember spring planting is only a season away!
Well, it’s about that time of the year to think about cleaning up your garden to get ready for winter. Saying goodbye for the winter is a depressing part of the cycle of gardening, but remember spring planting is only a season away!
Most of the end-of-season garden clean-up is a way to start preparing for next year. Here’s a checklist to get you started:
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- Pull dead annuals plants. They’re not going to come back, so it’s best to remove them now.
- Harvest everything from the vegetable garden and removed dropped fruit under fruit trees. If you don’t clean these up, the rotting food will attract animals.
- Clean up overgrown areas, to prevent animals and pests moving in. Mice love overgrown grasses as a winter home. Left messy, you’ll not only invite animals, you’ll encourage seed drop and more mess to deal with in spring.
- Put away garden tools and containers. You can hold onto container potting soil, if you plan to reuse it.
- Clean and store stakes, cages and garden decorations, especially anything that might rust. They will last longer if you keep them indoors during winter.
- Clean and sharpen tools before storing them so they’ll be ready to use in spring. Remove caked-on soil, sharpen blades and coat with oil to preserve the finish.
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