Fall Gardening Checklist
Fall is a great time of year to be out enjoying the cooler, refreshing weather, lovely fall colours…. and for preparing your garden for the onset of Canadian winter!
Fall is also a great time to plant trees and shrubs, trim back perennials and plant bulbs for loads of colour next spring.
Here are a few tasks to do in the garden in the fall….
October:
- Collect seeds and herbs for drying
- add compost or manure to garden beds
- plant new trees and shrubs (give them 6 weeks before the ground freezes)
- plant spring flowering bulbs
- continue watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes (trees and shrubs that are deprived of water now will be easily stressed over winter)
- pull weeds before they go to seed and to cut down on numbers next spring
- remove dead annuals from garden beds after frost
- clean up garden debris, remove all vegetable plants and fallen fruit
- dig up tender bulbs such as dahlia and cannas – store in moist material in a cool, dark space
November, early December:
- wrap screening around fruit tree trunks to protect from small rodents
- cut back perennial foliage to discourage over-wintering pests and disease – but leave any flowers with seeds for the birds
- mulch rose bushes
- start paper whites and amaryllis for winter blooms
- clean and sharpen garden tools and mower blades so they are ready to go in spring!
- Kristin Ego