Add a Layer of Finished Compost and Mulch: Push aside mulch, pull any weeds, and add a 1-2-inch layer of finished compost. Lightly cover the beds with the old mulch to help suppress weeds and protect the soil without insulating the beds. Many diseases and pests are killed when the soil freezes in winter.
Leaving the garden intact for the winter means you'll get a jump start on controlling pests in the spring. Skipping a fall gardening clean up is one important way to help these beneficial insects. Ladybug larvae, such as this one, are voracious predators of many garden pests, including the aphids in this photo.
Whether you're new to gardening, or a seasoned pro, building better soil is the single most important thing you can do to improve your gardening success. And fall is the best time to do it! To learn more, read Building Healthy Soil.
When winterizing your garden, instead of aerating and raking the soil where your roots veggies are, just put down a nice protective layer of mulch or leaf mold. This will help keep moisture and nutrients locked in the soil.
Cover With Mulch
If you don't want to plant cover crops, cover your garden soil with mulch, which protects the ground from the winter elements while holding everything in place. Organic mulch is the way to go. Bark, wood chips, straw, grass clippings, rice and other seed hulls are great options.
Leave Leaves for Wildlife
Fallen leaves also provide wildlife, especially pollinators, with some winter cover. Bees, moths, butterflies, snails, spiders, and dozens of arthropods and pollinators overwinter in dead plant material for protection from cold weather and predators.
Q: When is the best time to cut back in the fall? A: “When they start to look too ratty for you and before the fresh new growth begins,” says Sarah. For plants that are frost-sensitive, wait until after the plants have gone through several hard frosts to ensure they're dormant before cutting back.
The fall is the best time to add compost or manure to your garden soil. There are many forms of nitrogen that can exist in compost or manure. Not all forms of nitrogen are forms that plants can use. Some forms of nitrogen need to be broken down by bacteria or other plants into forms that are usable.
It's important to cut back foliage in the fall to protect flowering plants from disease and give them a clean start for regrowth as winter starts to turn into spring. However, there are some plants you can keep around through the winter since they benefit wildlife and still offer visual interest for your home.
Layer fallen, shredded tree leaves, compost and fertilizer in the garden bed and turn under the soil. You could also dig trenches in the garden, pile in the leaves and compost and cover with soil. These organic soil amendments will decompose over winter and leave the soil more fertile when spring rolls around.
Remove Summer Edibles, Diseased Plants and Weeds
Strip plants of any remaining fruits and seeds and remove them from garden beds. You can add the plants to a compost pile, if you have one, or toss them in the green wastebin. (Fall is a great time to start composting.)
A good layer of mulch will keep the soil frozen even during periodic winter warm spells. A more even soil temperature will also reduce the incidence of heaving. Heaving is when alternate cycles of heat and cold cause a plant to be pushed out of the soil.
It's generally fine to reuse potting soil if whatever you were growing in it was healthy.
Unlike some other methods of covering your soil, a tarp provides no real insulating benefit and also (obviously) adds no organic matter to the soil. It will, however, provide your soil with some protection from erosion and this is certainly better than leaving your soil fallow.
When To Winterize Your Gardens. The best time to start winterizing gardens is after the first hard freeze in the fall. A hard freeze occurs when the temperature gets below freezing overnight, killing off tender annual plants and vegetables.
Add a Layer of Mulch
Mulch is a garden miracle-worker any time of year and an important part of winter care. Think of mulch like a blanket protecting the garden during the winter months. A common winter problem is heaving or uplift of soils caused by freeze-thaw cycles.
There are various reasons why you should cover raised beds in winter. For instance, it's a good way to protect the nutrients in the soil from winter rains and soil erosion. It also prevents unwanted weeds from growing.
It's money in the bank with long-term benefits. The shredded leaves will immediately go to work keeping soil and roots warmer, retaining moisture, and preventing many weeds from germinating. Over time, those leaves will break down into rich, organic compost that will do wonders for improving the quality of any soil.
Plants that are fertilized in the fall have an earlier green up, and regular fertilizing throughout the year makes for healthier plants in general. The same logic applies to your shrubs, trees and perennials: give them a nutritional boost before winter to help them bounce back vigorously in the spring.
But when should hostas be cut back? Hostas should be cut back in late fall. Healthy hosta leaves can be left on the plant in early fall to capture much-needed energy, but all leaves should be trimmed off after the first frost to deter slugs and other pests from making your hosta their winter home.