Winter Garden Cleanup

It’s the last thing you want to think about after a long, hot summer working in the garden. You may still be in food-preserving mode and not ready to face a winter garden cleanup just yet. But let’s face it, gardening doesn’t stop when the harvest is over. In fact, what you do in the fall will have an impact on how your garden produces next spring.

Pick a side:

There are two mindsets about winter garden cleanup. One is that the garden should be left alone so that beneficial critters aren’t disturbed. Winter grazing animals, like deer and rabbits, will have access to food in the form of dead or dying plants. And finally, there are folks who believe the soil is improved by leaving plants and roots to rot and decay naturally, thus providing organic replenishment.

The other mindset is that dead or diseased plants need to be removed soonest so they don’t affect the spring crop. Disease like late blight travels on the wind and can do a real number on your garden. It can overwinter in the soil and greatly affect your spring garden.

Something else to consider…

Pests like hornworms, can overwinter in the soil and emerge as adult Hawk Moths in spring. These Hawk Moths will then lay the next generation of hornworm eggs on your precious plants! Grub worms, cut worms and other pests will also overwinter in your soil. I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my potential harvest to these critters!

Whichever mindset you subscribe to, you’ll have to deal with weeds. Either now or in the spring. Winter garden cleanup can keep annoying weeds from going to seed. It makes sense that cleaning up the garden now means less weeding later. That reason alone is enough for me to do a winter garden cleanup!

Winter Garden Cleanup:

Step 1:

Start by pulling up or tilling in old, healthy plants. Tilling adds organic matter back into the soil and improves drainage. Any plants that are affected by blight or other disease should be pulled up and burned. Also, pull up any invasive weeds or plants and dispose of them in the trash or burn pile. Do not put them in your compost pile where the disease or weeds may be resurrected next spring.

This step should also include expanding an existing garden or creating a new one. You can save yourself hours of labor by putting down layers of cardboard in the desired location and mulching over it. In the spring, just push the mulch aside to get to the soil. The cardboard should have had plenty of time to decompose over the winter months and weeds should be minimal.

Step 2:

Nutrients in the soil get depleted during the growing season and need to be replaced. Amendments should be added to the soil while it’s still warm and before the first frost. You can use compost, manure, bone meal, blood meal, or whatever the soil needs. Do a soil test first so you’re not heaping on stuff the soil doesn’t need.

Cow and horse manure are best, followed by goat and chicken manure. We have chickens so that’s what we use. Best of all, it’s FREE! If you know someone who owns farm animals, ask if you can take some manure off their hands. Most are happy to let you help yourself. You could return the favor by sharing some of your harvest with them!

Step 3:

Once the garden is cleaned, tilled and amendments added, lay a plastic sheet over the garden to prevent the soil from being compacted during winter rains. Rain can also push nutrients deeper into the soil where roots may not reach. You want to keep the nutrients in those top few inches of soil where they’ll provide the best chance for a productive spring garden.

The plastic can be removed in spring. Since the plastic also inhibits weed growth, the only thing you need to do is loosen up the soil with a hoe and you’re ready for planting!

Should you cover your garden with plastic?

It’s a personal preference. In many areas, frost will kill any pests living in the top few inches of soil. But here in east Texas, it rarely gets cold enough for a hard freeze. And we had a real issue with hornworms this year. So we’re not taking any chances with encouraging another generation of them! We’ll use the plastic for soil solarization and then again when we’ve amended the soil.

If you don’t want to mess with plastic sheeting, put down a heavy layer of mulch instead. Most folks will mulch lightly until the first frost and then add more later. Mulching heavily right off the bat can prevent the ground from freezing. As I mentioned previously, freezing kills the pests and disease living in the first few inches of soil. Once the first frost is past, then mulch heavily to retain moisture, prevent weeds, compaction and erosion.

Additional Fall Tasks:

1. Berries: Fall is the time to trim your blackberry bushes. We have one bush that looks like an octopus on steroids! I’ll be so happy to have that thing tamed and out of my way for mowing! Notice that I didn’t mention pruning raspberries or blueberries. That’s because these plants do better pruned in spring.
2. Other perennials: Rhubarb, asparagus and some herbs should also be pruned back at this time. This is the time of year when I collect cuttings to propagate new plants. Rosemary and basil are easy to root if you want to keep herbs for winter use. These herbs, along with sage and thyme, can be mulched heavily to protect against colder weather. You can also bring them indoors to let them continue growing throughout winter. When you prune back your herbs, make sure you save the cuttings for drying. Read more about drying herbs here.
3. Flower bulbs: Dig up bulbs that you want to divide and plant elsewhere. If you intend to transplant bulbs, do it before the first frost. This gives the bulbs plenty of time for good root development before the ground freezes.
4. Compost: Fall is the time to start a new compost pile or refresh an existing one. In order to keep your compost “cooking” during the winter months, cover it with a heavy tarp or plastic sheet. If the pile gets cold, the organic matter can’t decompose properly. You’ll be left with a frozen pile of food scraps and lawn clippings that are unusable in the spring garden.
5. Leaves: Now is the time to rake leaves and cut the grass one more time. Both dead leaves and grass clippings can be used to start or refresh that compost pile.
6. Mulch: Mulching is an important step in winter garden cleanup for so many reasons! Not only does it help to retain moisture, it prevents erosion from winter rain, prevents compacted soil from snow accumulation and helps control weeds. Mulching will also protect any winter crops you want to grow. Simply remove the old mulch and add new or till in the old stuff.

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