winterizing your plants Archives - Picket Fence Greenhouse/ Gardens

Raking and Mulching Fall Cleanup In Your Garden – How Much Should You Be Doing, Really is of Personal Preference?

Hi Everyone, It’s Diane

What should you be doing in the fall months to help prepare for the cold winter months?

Fall Cleanup can be a chore or you can think of it as fruit of your labors. The value and benefit to fall cleanup can and will be assure that all plants thriving in the next season.

Raking

Raking Leaves seems to be a ritual for everyone in the fall, or maybe you shred up the leaves with your mower then use as a nice mulch which will then break down and create some really nice organic matter, plus protection if placed around your plants.

Raking as a child was such a fun time, never really remembered the work involved. Jumping in the leaves with your siblings and then to rake them up again in a pile, this went on and on.

Mulching

Leaves make a great mulch around your potted plants or perhaps around your newly planted perennials.
Maybe you do a fall mulching with your desired wood mulch which is necessary on some perennials and shrubs to help assure their appearance again in the spring, that is if you live in a cold climate area, where all plants go dormant in the winter.

Composting

Maybe you just want to gather your leaves and place them in the compost bin. This works great too Why not! I say. Here is a tweet I seen from Birds and Blooms the other day.

Check this out .

Did you know? Roughly 50% of nutrients extracted by a tree from the earth are contained in fallen leaves?

Therefore, composting is perfect!

Compost those Fallen Leaves! and use some of them for mulching too!

Winterizing your Perennials

To protect and keep your plants good and warm and tidy through the winter months, make sure you do your winterizing to all plants if necessary, for sure on the more sensitive plants to assure their arrival again year after year. This is where mulching should be considered.

Leave or Clean Up in the Fall

My thoughts are this, I do not trim, or rake up around the perennials.  I leave the leaves that have fallen around all the plants to provide protection. Now this is my own Personal Preference, This should be left untouched until Spring. This will protect all your newly and established plants all winter, by leaving them alone.

Winter Interest is also fun if you leave your ornamental grasses alone and you’re other planted perennials. Plus adds protection and possibly a food source for animals and birds.

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