It's a Wrap
Do you have these fall gardening tasks on your list? While there are still some mild days to enjoy, spend some time on these fun fall activities and crucial to-do’s for next year’s garden.
Tend to Perennials.
Herbaceous perennials will completely die back each winter. Prevent pests and diseases by removing dead foliage from these plants, but wait until after a couple hard freezes. Remember, if the leaves are still green, the plant is still photosynthesizing.
Plants with sturdier or woody stems can be left up through the winter, which will help insulate the plant, provide structural interest, and provide habitat for wildlife. Seeds from grasses and flowers are an especially good winter food source for birds.
Put the vegetable garden to bed.
Remove annual vegetables after they have stopped producing. Root crops like carrots and turnips can be left in the ground for months to come and harvested as needed. Prevent winter weeds by removing all mature weeds and adding mulch on top of the soil. This will also help your root crops last longer!
Save and Store Seeds.
Did you have favorite plants in the vegetable garden or home landscape this year? Become an amateur plant breeder by saving seeds from this season’s most successful plants to sow again next season.
Lay down mulch.
Renew mulch in perennial beds as well. This will help protect plants from temperature extremes, conserve soil moisture and reduce winter weeds. If cleaning leaves out of your garden is a pain, just leave them! They’ll help protect your perennials, too.
Wrap sensitive trees.
Young or thin-barked trees like ginkgo, fruit trees, maple and linden can suffer from sunscald or frost cracks. Wrap these sensitive trees in mid-November, and don’t forget to remove the wrap in mid-April.
Winterize Sprinkler Systems
Whether you DIY or hire out this task, draining your irrigation system is a must to avoid water freezing in the system. Water left in pipes over the winter can freeze, damaging your irrigation system and leading to costly repairs next season.
Don’t Forget to Keep on Watering
After you blow out your sprinkler systems, watering will have to be done by hand, but watering through dry spells in the fall and winter is one of the most important practices for trees, shrubs and even lawns in Colorado.
