How to Prepare Your Garden for Winter: The Complete Fall Cleanup Guide
As the days grow shorter and the temperatures start to dip, your garden begins its slow transition into winter dormancy. While it may be tempting to simply hang up your gardening gloves until spring, spending a little time properly closing down your garden now can make a huge difference in how healthy, vibrant, and manageable your garden will be next year. Think of it as putting your garden to bed — comfortably, cleanly, and primed for a strong comeback.
1. Clean Up Spent Plants and Debris
Remove annuals that have completed their lifecycle and cut back perennials that die back naturally. Clearing out dead plant material helps prevent overwintering pests, disease spread, and fungal issues that could linger into the spring.
Tip: Leave some seed heads — like coneflowers or sunflowers — for winter birds to enjoy.
2. Protect Your Perennial Beds
After the first hard frost, add a blanket of mulch. A 2–4 inch layer of shredded leaves is my favorite way to protect plant roots from drastic temperature swings and helps retain soil moisture through winter.
3. Prep Your Soil for Spring
Late fall is one of the best times to enrich your soil. Add compost or aged manure to beds so winter rains and snow can help it work its way in. If you have raised beds, rake the soil smooth to discourage nesting rodents.
4. Lift Tender Bulbs and Protect Delicate Plants
If you grow tender bulbs such as dahlias, gladiolus, or cannas, dig them up before the first heavy freeze and store them in a cool, dry place. Potted tropicals should also be brought indoors or placed in a sheltered greenhouse.
5. Clean and Store Garden Tools
Wipe down shovels, pruners, trowels, and rakes. Sharpen blades, oil moving parts, and store everything somewhere dry. Clean tools last longer — and they make spring gardening so much easier.
6. Winterize Hoses, Irrigation, and Outdoor Faucets
Drain garden hoses and drip irrigation lines to prevent freezing and cracking. Disconnect hoses and store them coiled and dry. Cover outdoor spigots as needed.
7. Rake and Reuse Leaves
Instead of sending leaves to the curb, shred them and use them as mulch or add them to your compost pile. Your garden will thank you in spring.
With a little preparation now, you set yourself up for a healthier, more productive, and far less stressful gardening season when spring finally returns!