leaf blowing

Autumn in Michigan is the time to prepare your flower beds for the coming winter months. There are a variety of different techniques for shutting down your garden in winter-each one has its pros and cons.

The “tidy clean-up” removes essentially all dead plant matter from the garden-with the exception of woody perrenials and flowering shrubs. This is the most tidy and neat looking strategy. Not so different from how a clean carpet appears after you vacuum it. Diseased foliage left behind with this strategy will probably contaminate next years foliage.It may also help hinder the slug and pest population. By removing all the plant matter from your beds you have removed all the good compost for next year. The winter protection that plant debris provides has been removed and can no longer protect the roots below. You will now have to amend your garden in the spring with costly compost and fertilizer to make up for what you have taken away. Not the best maintenance style for a flourishing garden because it does not provide important nutrients.

The “high/low maintenance” technique for fall clean-up is a balance between the sterilizing your beds and the do nothing approach. High/low maintenance technique is by no means a no maintenance approach. Think of low maintenance as meaning less work in the spring, but still a good work out in the garden this weekend and probably next week end too. In this approach one would remove dead annual plants,sprinkling the seeds as you go and putting away your decorative garden decor if need be. These seeds will germinate if you don’t use a weed inhibitor in your beds. Go ahead and cut back your perennial plants, leaving one third of the plant, but don’t cut back woody plants and flowering shrubs. If you cut these back now they may not do so well next year. The birds in your garden will appreciate it if you leave some seed heads behind. Leave one foot on your ornamental grasses if you cut them back. Rake out the beds and remove all of the cuttings and most of the leaves that have come down from the trees. Blow left over leaves from beds onto your grass and chop with lawn mower. Mulching the last of the autumn leaves into your lawn keeps things looking tidy and is like free fertilizer for your grass. Oak leaves mulched into the grass are supposed to prevent future weeds in your lawn. Encourage you lawn care people to mulch leaves as much as they are able to. You may need to bury some of your tree roses. You may want to put some wilt spray on your rhododendrons in December as well as build some burlap houses for them. Do not allow burlap to touch the shrubs. This is the time to put some extra effort into winter protection for your flowering shrubs such as rhododendrums, roses and hydrangeas.

The third approach to winter preparation is the “no maintenance” approach. Mother nature will tuck in all your plants with out any work from you-that is the big advantage of this technique. The con’s of doing nothing now are that your neighbors will hate you for your messy yard and you will have a lot to do in the spring at a time when lots of plants are starting to peek through the debris. Perrennials and early bulbs are delicate in the spring and can be easily destroyed as one tramples through spring clean up. Not only that, but the soil in the spring is at it’s most vulnerable time and stepping in the beds now will compress it terribly and prevent the tender roots of plants from growing at their best. Remember that weeds left in your beds will grow through out the winter months if you do not pull them [out] in the fall.

What ever your clean-up approach be sure to put away your outdoor garden decor for the winter as you don’t want it to get ruined. Also remember to clean out your bird feeders and bird houses and stock up on bird seed before the snow falls so you can sit back and watch the animals in your garden while it sleeps.

Every gardener has their own individual way of taking care of their fall garden maintenance before winter descends. The approaches outlined in this article are meant to help you decide what fall maintenance technique is ideal for you. Go forth and maintain your gardens in the spirit of what will grow and bloom next year!

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yard-maintenance