Take advantage of the cooler weather to clean up your garden and get it ready for a good growing season next year. Here’s our Autumn Garden Checklist so you don’t miss a thing.
Sure, you’re going to rake those leaves, but what else do you need to do get your yard and garden ready for winter?
Go over our autumn garden checklist to remind you of everything that needs to be done.
Give your garden a once-over.
- Which plants have outgrown their space and need to be divided?
- Look for signs of disease or damage.
- Note which areas could use soil amendment and new plants.
- Do any plants need to be moved to a more suitable location?
- Does the shape of the garden bed need to be adjusted?
- Look for hardscape elements that might need repairing – edging, walkways, trellises, etc.
Get your garden ready for winter.
- Dig up tender bulb or tuber plants that won’t withstand the winter.
- Bring houseplants indoors, but check for insects first.
- Weed garden beds and remove spent annuals.
- Deadhead and prune one last time. Disinfect pruners in between plants to reduce the risk of spreading disease.
- Do not prune roses. This stimulates new growth that may not be able to survive cold weather.
- Divide overgrown perennials.
- Amend soil.
- Add mulch after the first frost, where necessary.
- Remove summer annuals from window boxes and planters, and replace with cool-weather bloomers like pansies or ornamental kale.
Get your garden ready for spring. - Plant spring bulbs. For a step by step guide see 5 Steps to Success when Planting Bulbs in Fall.
- Plant shrubs, trees, roses, or climbing plants.
- Apply fall fertilizer to established lawns; turf or sow bare areas.
When your fall gardening chores are all done, sit outside one last time to enjoy the crisp air and take pride in all the work you’ve done.
Want more? See how to plant spring bulbs in the fall.
5 Steps to Planting Spring Bulbs in the Fall
As the days grow shorter and the nights cool down, it’s time to get ready for the fall bulb planting ritual. Here are 5 steps to success when planting bulbs in the fall.
Want more? See our bucket list of things to do in Autumn.
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The air is crisp and cool, the leaves are changing into vibrant colors, daylight is shorter. Time for our bucketlist of things to do in Autumn! We have dozens of ideas with recipes and tips on how to do them.
Want more? See all of our autumn recipes.
Awesome Autumn Recipes Celebrate the Flavors of Fall
See our autumn recipe collection with favorites like pumpkin pies and everything pumpkin spice, and a list of recipes by ingredient for fruits and vegetables harvested in the fall.
Want even more? See our new autumn gardening tips.
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