Leaving your garden intact during the winter means you'll start controlling pests in spring. Skipping a garden cleanup in the fall is an important way to help these beneficial insects. Ladybug larvae, like this one, are voracious predators for many garden pests, including the aphids in this photo. However, some fall cleaning tasks are more important than others to keep your patio and gardens looking fantastic.
They're also setting themselves up for success during winter and spring. These are the tasks that readers of Birds %26 Blooms never skip, no matter how busy they are. Fallen leaves are an excellent mulch for lawns. So don't pack them up and throw them away.
Lisa Malmberg, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, says: “After working in the garden organically for more than 30 years, I cover all our beds with shredded leaves every fall. To do this fall cleaning task yourself, simply run a bunch of leaves over it with a lawnmower. The leaf mulch will be ready when the leaves are in quarter-sized pieces. Check out 25 more gardening tips we learned from our grandmothers.
Trim dead branches and cut down trees and shrubs that have grown too large during your fall cleaning routine. If you have perennials that bloom in spring, such as lilac or forsythia, now is the time to prune without risking them blooming. He has worked hard to keep his garden spotless all summer long. Fall is not the time to let things slide.
If you do, you may face a sick lawn in April. Fall maintenance is important to give your lawn what it needs to absorb the oxygen and nutrients needed to survive a harsh winter. Plus, letting down your guard now will make all your gardens look tired and worn out. If you're a rose gardener, this is one of those fall garden cleaning tasks that goes without saying.
A clean turf area is essential to get the most out of other important fall services, such as lawn fertilization, liming, tick control and core aeration. So how do you come up with a responsible plan that recognizes both ecology and its horticultural objectives? Perhaps it's best to think of fall garden cleaning as an editing job, not as a massive wall-to-wall regime, like vacuuming the living room. Rodomsky-Bish said that less scrupulous cleaning creates a habitat for ticks, litter creatures. Here's a list of what to clean up in the fall so you don't have to make a big mess in the spring and, at the same time, conserve a habitat for insects that overwinter.
Fall annuals, like pansies, are also a great addition to keeping some color in your garden while other plants fall asleep. When my sister bought her first house, her new neighbors told her that in the fall, after picking the leaves, the previous owner would climb a ladder and remove the last leaves from the trees.
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