Gardening Tips: Fall Garden Care
Crisp fall days are the ideal time to accomplish garden tasks that will simplify work in the spring. I'm Lisa Hilgenberg from Chicago Botanic Garden with garden tips for the week.
It's tempting to give up on your garden at this time of year rather than wisely reveling in garden successes of the summer being mindful that our fall/winter garden is our link to next spring!
Before your say good-bye to your summer garden take time to walk around the garden documenting the good, the bad and the ugly in order to remember the changes you'd like to make in your garden next spring.
Snapping a few pictures or making a drawing today will remind us where problem areas are when things look different in the spring.
Perennials that flower in spring can be divided and moved this fall.
Garden cleanup of debris like leaf litter, lawn clippings, weeds, fruit and vegetables plants is important for sanitation removing the overwintering habitat for insect pests.
Perform a soil test this fall amending in the fall according to the results gives the nutrients time to begin reacting with the soil. Preparing planting beds in fall when its drier helps to avoid having to work heavy, wet soils in the spring which further compacts them.
After a killing frost remove annual plants and till in compost or leaf litter to improve fertility of the soil. Empty containers and cut back taller perennials if they become unsightly under snow cover. Healthy plant debris can be thrown on the compost pile.
Aerate lawns and fertilize. Last mowing should be done with the blade high, leaving 2-3" turf. Mow over leaves, going back over a second time to make leaf mulch that can be raked up and spread over flower beds.
Lisa Hilgenberg is the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden Horticulturist. She teaches classes for the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden and mentors interns from the Garden's urban agriculture programs in the summer. Lisa draws on a rich family farming tradition, having spent many summers on her grandparents' farms in Iowa and Minnesota. You can follow Lisa on Twitter @hilgenberg8.
