Fall clean-up

If you haven't cleaned up the perennial garden yet this fall, looks like you might have one nice weekend left. Cutting your perennials back in the fall is a good idea. Get all that disease, leaf spot, mildew and rotting foliage out of the garden and in the trash. Sanitation is vital to a healthy garden. If you want to cover your plants, use something that drains quickly; straw, hay or pine needles. Some leaves are okay on top of the straw, hay etc., but leaves compact and do not drain well and can cause the crown of plants to rot. If your plants are for zone 4, they shouldn't need winter cover, but if newly planted this year, it's a good idea. Sometimes folks like the dead plants left to 'catch' snow, and that's ok, but I prefer to not risk the disease issues. Plus....I prefer to cut back plants when they are still crispy and not soggy & smelly in the spring.

What about that vegetable garden? The BEST thing you can do, is to pull or rake out those plants and throw away. They should not go in the compost unless you have a barrel. Why? Nearly every insect pest and disease issue winters over on the plant material from your garden. Tilling it in, just winters it over for next year. Putting in the compost heap doesn't work to kill insect eggs & disease unless you are correctly 'workin' the pile. Which is frequent turning, watering, adding the correct amount of carbon & nitrogen material so the whole pile reaches 212 degrees within 2 weeks. See the problem? More work than most people can do. So your backyard pile is more likely a insect-disease breeding community! An enclosed barrel at least contains the problems better and breaks down the material quicker.