Fall Chores for Gardeners

I get renewed energy when it's cooler outside, as it is here in northern Illinois. I know it's time to get my home ready for winter.

We still cover the air conditioner unit with plastic and tie it down so the wind doesn't blow it away.

After the first real frost, I decide which dead annuals and weeds I want to clear away. I will leave most of it to protect the gardens and clear it out in the spring. I tell myself it's not lazyiness, but a smarter way to garden. (It IS!)

I take out my clippers and trimmers and do a last run around the bushes.

It's my last chance to move or plant spring bulbs. I have lots of crocus's, tulips and daffodils to distribute. The deer ate my whole tulip bed last spring before anything even popped up. I guess they were hungry.

Hubby likes to rake the leaves. The city comes and gets them when we leave them in piles by the street.

I trim the roses and build up the soil and mulch around their bases. I cover them with those large styrofoam caps and top them with heavy cement garden stones to keep them from blowing away.

I check my perennials and bushes. I either leave them alone or gather up some leaves and bunch 'em up around their bases.

If I haven't already, I clip out the heads of flowers with seeds I want to save and plant next year. It's my LAST CHANCE to save seeds to plant next season.

The seeds must be mature and are best when selected from a large flower head that was dried naturally before the frost. They must be dry before storage, so I generally wait if it's been raining. Sometimes I need to lay them out in a tray in sunlight to BE SURE THEY ARE DRY. I do not want them to get moldy in dark storage over the winter.

I make LABELS for the seeds right away and only close any container after I am sure the seeds are dry.

I learned to be extra careful to keep the chipmunks away when I store seeds in my garage. Chipmunks LOVE SEEDS and manage to use my garage to find winter snacks. Now I'm more careful about leaving them unprotected.

Seeds can deal with freezing temperatures but not mold, so they must be dry if you close them up tightly. I am using coffee cans and airtight lids this year and making sure my seeds have sufficiently dried out in trays in the sun.

I use extra cat litter pans to hold my gladiola bulbs. You can pull out gladiola bulbs anytime after the last stalk dies off, but do it before the first hard freeze. I trim them down to the bulb, usually leaving some of the dirt and multiple bulbs intact in the pan. I take them down to my basement so they can't freeze.

I have a workbench downstairs I use for gardening chores when it's too cold to work in the garage. I've used it for several winter gardening projects like re-planting my violets.

I have also started seeds early inside, like in February. Frankly, I've had little success with that method. It is difficult completing the whole cycle from seeds under lights into established plants early the next year. It's really not that easy without special equipment. At every point there seems the potential for the plant to be stressed and die, with or without good care.

My best successes have been from planting my own saved seeds and newly purchased seeds directly into the ground after the last frost in the spring. Nature and my garden hose keep them watered and I add fertilizer and my special care when I want to be outdoors in the spring!

I do keep trying indoor gardening experiments, like starting seeds early indoors and transplanting them so they survive and flower the next season. After all, I've had good luck with indoor plants. When I experiment and remember to take pictures, I put those plant project stories here to share. (I've got a couple experiments in process right now, I look forward to telling you about.)

Meanwhile, before it gets too cold out, I can start getting out the Christmas decorations. The more I get done now, the more likely I won't freeze my hands off doing it later.

About the Author:
Karen S Mueller has been gardening for decades and enjoys posting her sunflower and garden photos and writing about her plant projects and green thumb tips at www.TheSunflowerLady.com.