Shorter days, cooler evenings, and some tinges of yellow and orange in the treetops can only mean one thing—fall is just around the corner. If we’re unprepared, it’s easy to panic. Maybe there are some lingering items on your summer bucket list. And there’s always so much to do in the fall in preparation for the long Minnesota winter ahead. However, looking back over your summer with gratitude and embracing the upcoming season with careful planning can make all the difference. To help you along, your friends at McDonough Landscaping put together a winter prep checklist that we think you’ll love. Move into winter with peace of mind, knowing that your lawn and garden are buttoned up and ready for a rest before next year’s bounty!
Annual Garden Beds + Pots
- Clean out flower beds. Pull up weeds and spent plants and throw them in the compost pile.
- Dig up delicate bulbs. Summer-blooming tropical bulbs aren’t hardy enough for our Northern winters. After their foliage turns brown, trim them back to a couple of inches and dig up dahlias, cannas, begonias, caladiums, etc. Shake the dirt off the root systems and dry them flat for a week or two before storing them in between layers of peat moss, sand, vermiculite, sawdust, or wood shavings. Store them in a cool, dry place.
- Decide which annuals, seeds, or cuttings you want to bring indoors. Spray any pests you see on outdoor plants before moving them inside. Give all plants a thorough hose down, too!
- Empty and rinse pots. This is especially important with clay pots, as full clay pots are prone to cracking in the freeze-thaw cycle. Once pots are empty, store them in a garage or storage shed or against your house under a tarp.
Perennial Garden Beds
- Weed beds. This might seem obvious, but it’s incredibly important. Weeds are hardy and can withstand subzero elements. Weeds you don’t pull in the fall are likely to seed, proliferate, and reappear in the spring.
- Divide mature spring-blooming perennials. Fall is the perfect time to divide spring bloomers like hostas, lilies, and irises. Just be sure to replant divisions so they have enough time to get established before the ground freezes. Bonus: Divided plants make a great gift for fellow plant lovers!
- Plant spring-blooming bulbs. Spring-blooming bulbs like tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths must be planted in late September or October to grow roots and get established before the ground freezes. They’ll reward you with playful splashes of color as soon as temperatures warm up in early spring.
- Discard of diseased plants. Pull these up, bag them, and toss them in the trash. Compost piles don’t get hot enough to kill most pests, and leaving them lying around can escalate your pest problem next year.
- Prune, but not too heavily. Prune any damaged parts off your plants. However, wait to heavily prune them until the spring and before new growth appears. Keeping more of your perennials intact will lend itself to more visual interest during the winter months, help insulate the plants, allow them to conserve energy, and provide a winter habitat for small wildlife.
Vegetable Garden Beds
- Weed beds. As we’ve already mentioned, pull all weeds so they don’t go to seed, spread, and make more work for you in the spring when you’re eager to start planting!
- Save seeds from your favorite open-pollinated plants. This is an easy and fun way to keep your garden going year after year!
- Discard diseased plants. Just like in your vegetable gardens, pull up diseased plants, bag them up, and throw them in the trash.
- Remove stakes, cages, etc. From tomato cages to bean poles, there are always peripheral accessories in vegetable gardens. Remove everything, clean it up, and organize it so it’s ready for next year’s growing season.
- Consider planting a cover crop. Clover or peas are a great choice for Midwest garden beds. These plants add nutrients to your soil, protect it from erosion, and tackle any pests. Then just till them under in the spring before you plant!
- Add a layer of compost. Compost adds nutrients to the soil. One easy way to do this is to cut down your old plant foliage and lay it across your garden beds. Pea and bean plants make especially good compost. Leave their root systems in place when you cut them down. They will release stored nitrogen back into your soil.
Lawn Care
- Rake or mulch your leaves. Mulched leaves will decompose over the winter, adding nutrients to your soil.
- Do a final mow. Raise your mower blade to encourage cold-weather root growth and provide more winter insulation.
- Aerate your lawn. This loosens up compacted soil and allows roots to access more nourishment and go down deeper.
- Seed or sod. Grass is a cold-weather plant. It thrives with warm daytime sun, cool nights, and fall rain.
- Apply a preemergent fertilizer. This will help keep crabgrass and foxtail at bay and give your lawn’s roots a pre-winter boost. Plus, your grass will green up even more quickly in the spring.
Tree and Shrub Care
- Prune dead branches. All it takes is one heavy snow to take down dead and dying tree limbs. Minimize the risk by preemptively pruning dead limbs or branches, especially if they’re over your home, garage, or power lines. Call the professionals if you can’t safely remove them on your own.
- Prune deciduous trees after they drop their leaves. Keep the pruning light to conserve the tree’s energy for the long winter months. Save your heavy pruning for spring before new growth appears.
- Fertilize current trees and shrubs. Adding fertilizer to trees and shrubs in late summer or early fall will help them store up energy in their root systems for the colder months ahead.
- Plant trees and shrubs. Fall is a great time to plant deciduous trees and shrubs! Just make sure you get them in the ground at least a month before it freezes so they get established. The best time to plant coniferous trees is in the spring.
- Protect delicate tree trunks. Easily protect newly planted trees and trees with delicate bark by wrapping their trunks in tree wrap. This will help ward off sun-scald and frost cracks and protect trunks from deer antlers.
- Water, water, water! Thoroughly watering shrubs and trees will give them the moisture they need for the long, dry winter ahead.
Tools and Gear
- Drain and disconnect your hoses. When hoses remain connected over the winter, water freezes in hoses and pipes, causing the pipes to split or crack. It can also leave water against the foundation of your home and drive up your water bill.
- Winterize your sprinkler system. Just like with hoses, water left in sprinkler systems can damage the lines. Use an air compressor to blow out your sprinkler system, or hire an irrigation service to do this for you.
- Clean, sharpen, and store hand tools. You’ve put your tools through a lot this growing season! Fall maintenance will ensure that they’re ready to go as soon as you are in the spring.
- Empty gas lines in mowers, weed whips, and tillers. Also, be sure to change the oil on your motors before putting these power tools into winter storage.
Add 3-4” of mulch to the tops of your beds and around your trees and shrubs. This will help prevent erosion, and it will insulate their root systems from extreme winter temperatures. Choose organic ingredients such as pine needles, straw, grass clippings, and mulched leaves to add nutrients back into the soil!
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed after reading through this winter prep checklist and you want some help battening down the hatches this fall, consider hiring the experts at McDonough Landscaping for your fall planting bed cleanup. Give us a call at 651.755.7901 or contact us here!
