Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fall Garden Cleanup Tips

This morning, I went outside to pick the last tomatoes and beans from my garden.  We had our first frost here in Cincinnati a couple of days ago, so the garden is looking like it's about finished.  My next big project is to begin fall cleanup.  If you're getting ready to do the same, here are a few tips:

1.  Remove all tomato and potato plants.  If you still have tomatoes on the vine, you can hang the plants upside down in your garage, or wrap the unripened tomatoes in newspaper.  Either way, they will ripen. (Or you  can just make fried green tomatoes.)

2.  Compost the debris. (See my gardening tip on composting.)

3.  Do a soil test.  This is a good time to add the proper amounts of lime if needed.

4.  Trim off old foilage, pull out dying annual plants, and divide spring blooming plants like iris, daffodils, and black-eyed Susans. 

5.  Keep coneflowers standing, as they povide good food for the birds.

6.  Leave veggies like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and radishes in the ground.  As they decompose in the spring, they release cyanide compounds that kill harmful wireworms.

After you've done all that work, you can begin planning for next year's garden!  

17 comments:

  1. Oh brother ... so much work. But I admit I miss having our very own garden ... We're hoping to move this winter, who knows, maybe spring will find us with our very own garden too. :)

    P.S. Papa is Preacher would like to cordially invite you to our very first Link Up party beginning tomorrow (Thursday) at 9:30 a.m. going 'till Tuesday. Please see this post for more info: http://papaisapreacher.blogspot.ca/2012/10/tidbit-thursday.html
    We'd really be honored to see you there!

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    1. I'll have to check out your Papa Preacher link up. Thanks for telling me about it.

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  2. No garden, but I just trimmed my hedges this past weekend. Does that count?

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  3. that's a lot of work. I've still got salvia blooming like crazy in TX. Not cold enough yet here.

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    1. It's nice you get to enjoy your gardens for so long. I'm sure your cleanup is coming, though!

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  4. We got worse than frost, today it snowed. Yeah, my Dad better get his plants out of the greenhouse soon or they'll all die...

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    1. Yuck! When I lived in Cleveland, we used to get early snows.

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  5. Didn't realize there's a lot of work. It's so weird that we're just starting to garden here like it's spring. We have a very small patch. Did a recent cleanup by removing the weeds and a lot of sand sweeping.

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    1. It is funny that you're just getting started, while I'm cleaning up!

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  6. Hi Sherry - wise tips - and when I get a garden again .. your site here will be so useful ..

    Enjoy your tidying up and sorting out - happy weekend - Hilary

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