Fall and Winter Gardening Tasks

Seasons change, our gardens change with them, and thus our “to-do” list of gardening tasks and garden chores changes. Most of us aren’t full-time gardeners; we work on our gardening spaces in our spare time and as an enjoyable hobby. This means that it can be difficult to keep track of all the things we need to do, especially when the seasons change.  Here at Gardzen we like to help gardeners get the most out of their gardens, so in this blog we’d like to present some seasonal reminders for autumn and winter gardening chores. This list of fall and winter gardening tasks is far from complete and you’ll need to review your own garden spaces and what they need. But this list provides the basics for both in-ground and container gardens so we hope this helps get you started. Let’s dig in!

· It’s time to weed the garden! We know, we know—weeding is a chore that never ends. And while weeds may seem most prolific in the spring and summer, many unwanted plants pop up in the fall as well. This is a great chance to remove unwanted guests and make sure your soil is ready for spring, so don’t neglect autumn weeding.

· Aerate your soil as needed. This one’s a bit more subjective, but if your garden soil has become compacted or overly dense, now’s a good time to aerate and amend it as needed, We’ve written about that kind of soil care here and here, so please refer to those blogs for more details about this particular autumn chore.

· Check your mulch and refresh as needed. Most types of mulch are consumables, meaning in this case that they’re organic and break down into your soil over time. This means that seasonally we all need to double check our mulch and add more as needed. Don’t forget your container plants and planters as you’re doing this—their soil needs a healthy layer of mulch too!

· Adopt a seasonal watering schedule. Plants need water year round, and until the soil freezes dormant perennials still require regular watering in order to stay healthy and reemerge in spring looking their best. We do recommend taking care to water just the soil during cold weather—getting water on the plants themselves during freezing weather can cause damage to the surfaces in question.

· It’s time to prepare new garden beds! No, really. Now’s the time to establish new in-ground or raised beds in your garden especially if you’d like to try a permaculture approach or some sandwich composting. Both of these are great ways to make use of autumn leaves on your lawn, and will help you start the spring with rich, healthy soil.

· Plant bulbs for spring plants! This is another counterintuitive task, but it’s important for some popular garden plants. Tulips, spider lilies, narcissus, and other bulb-growing plants are best planted in the fall or winter with the goal of beautiful blossoms in the spring. So while it may feel weird to plant during the cooler months, for some flowers it’s the best approach.

There’s always more to talk about and so much more to do—pruning and trimming, transplanting, and many more garden tasks pop up at this time of the year. We hope this basic list gets you started preparing your garden spaces for fall and winter, and we really hope you’ll share the results with us. Gardzen is all about community and we love to hear from you!