Prepping the Garden for Fall

With Fall approaching, sooner than we'd like it, we thought it would be a great time to look at some tips to prepare your garden for the fall months. We found this fantastic article on www.thriftyfun.com titled, "Prepping the Garden for Fall". The article provides numerous tips for prepping your garden throughout the months of fall. Click here to read the article or begin below.

"Prepping the Garden for Fall"
By Ellen Brown

As summer turns to autumn, it's time to take stock of this year's growing season and start shifting our focus to prepping the garden for fall. here is a to-do list of seasonal chores for the lawn and garden:

Keep Up With Watering

As temperatures begin to cool and grass growth starts to slow, it's easy to back off on watering the garden. Sending your plants, trees and shrubs into the winter season thoroughly hydrated, however, helps to protect them over winter and will give them a good start to next year's growing season.

Clean Up & Compost

Compost fallen leaves and remove and compost annuals that have gone past season. Wait a few weeks to cut back perennials. Dried stalks give gardens visual interest and seeds may provide foot for migrating birds. Remove dead foliage and leaf litter now to eliminate potential winter hiding spots for hibernating insects. Make sure to throw diseased plants in the trash, not the compost pile.

Aerate the Lawn

Plentiful rains make early fall a great time to aerate the lawn and over-seed any problem sports discovered during the summer. In the fall, grass plants focus their energy into root growth. If necessary, apply a slow release fertilizer now to increase the likelihood that nutrients will be used for root growth. Good strong roots are the best way to stimulate and support vigorous leaf growth in the spring.

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