13 Tips for Cleaning up Your Garden in the Fall
The clean-up gardening you do in the fall smooths the way for a more successful garden in spring. There are plenty of things you can do in your garden as you get outside and enjoy the cooler fall weather. For all the supplies you need to clean your fall garden, visit our store and two-acre oasis at Cypress Creek Landscape Supply. We are here for you year-round to enhance your professional or DIY gardening and landscaping work by providing healthy plants, patio furniture, fertilizers, mulches, rocks, and so much more.
Basic Tools for Cleaning Up Your Garden
Gathering needed tools beforehand makes cleanup work more enjoyable and less of a hassle. The following are among the tools you may need for cleaning up your garden in fall:
- Garden gloves
- Soil test kit
- Fertilizer spreader
- Grass seed
- Compost or fertilizer
- Garden rake
- Leaf rake
- Pruners
- Lawn aerator
- Dethatching rake
- Mulch
Fall Garden Clean-Up in 13 Easy Steps
Cleanup of your garden in fall is really an essential step so that you don’t regress on the health and appearance of your garden. The following steps not only help ensure that plants will better thrive in spring, they also help to prevent damage that might otherwise occur in winter. Check out the 13 steps below for garden cleanup.
- Early fall is considered the optimal time for fertilizing your lawn. It’s best to test your soil’s pH first to see what nutrients may be lacking before choosing and adding fertilizer.
- Aerate compacted soil and remove any areas of yellowish-brown thatch.
- Use a fertilizer spreader to spread grass seed lightly over your entire lawn, though extra seed should be applied in any spots with dead grass.
- Wear your garden gloves and pull up dead annuals and shred the healthy plant material, which makes a great addition to compost piles. Pull up and dispose of weeds and any foliage that is mildewed or diseased so that your compost pile doesn’t become contaminated.
- After you’ve completed all pruning, rake your garden beds.
- Add manure or compost to your garden beds to enrich the soil. All that’s needed is to spread a layer evenly wherever the soil is exposed.
- Between earthworms and winter freezes, the nutrients will be worked in for you.
- Prune perennials. In particular, be sure to cut back diseased perennials, removing all foliage.
- Before the arrival of the first frost, take small cuttings of plants to transplant in spring. Pursue other overwintering techniques according to the plants in your garden and what they can withstand.
- Replenish mulch. Soil temperatures are better regulated during winter with a thick layer of mulch, plus mulch provides a buffer against hard frosts.
- Remove most of the leaf litter from your lawn. Give grass the light and air it needs but leaving some leaves behind provides pollinators with the ideal place for wintering.
- Until the ground freezes, keep shrubs and trees well-watered. The plants are still alive, though they may look dormant. If the Florida winter is dry and mild, you may want to continue watering throughout the fall season.
- Drain water from all fountains, drip irrigation systems, and hoses. Keep them safely stored in a dry place.
- Get your gardening tools ready for winter storage by cleaning, sanding, and oiling them.
Visit Cypress Creek Landscape Supply Today
We have all the supplies you need at Cypress Creek Landscape Supply at our location in Tampa FL. Visit us at 12734 N. Florida Ave. to see our mulch options, which include Gold Recycled Mulch, Red Recycled Mulch, Black Recycled Mulch, Brown Recycled Mulch, Fine Quality Mulch, Cypress Mulch, and pine straw bale. We’ve got the hardware and supplies you need, such as a metal leaf rake, pruning shears, shovels, fertilizer spreaders, weed mats, plus much more for cleaning up your garden. Visit us or call today at (813) 933-7944.
