Five Things For Fall Gardening

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November is here which usually means a slow down of sorts for most gardeners and lawn aficionados. We start to think of turkeys and holiday decorations and begin to put the garden beds to sleep for the winter. But what should and shouldn’t you do during the fall to wind down the garden? Here are five things that hopefully will help you organize your fall garden tasks!

Love those leaves. Leaves are one of the best and, at the same time, most underused resources for the garden. As I drive through town every fall, I see plastic bags filled with leaves and yard waste. I suppose bagging leaves is slightly better than burning them (which is a sin as far as I’m concerned) but it is a significant waste of a great resource. If you have ever gone hiking or been in a forest for even a few minutes you have no doubt noted the dark, rich and loamy soil that abounds in the woods. That’s all because of the leaves that drop each fall. They get broken down by microbes and earthworms and turned into the perfect soil for nearly anything. Don’t waste the leaves, use them! Collect them and use them as mulch in your garden, chop them up using your lawnmower or weedeater and spread them over your beds. They will break down over the winter and add a richness to your soil that you as a gardener will love. And your plants won’t think it’s half bad either!

Again, don’t waste those leaves. Compost them! If you have too many leaves to cover your raised beds say “Hello compost bin!” Whether it’s made from a simple piece of chicken wire, pallets screwed together (like mine), or a fancy store bought composter-supreme, leaves are a great thing to add to your kitchen scraps.

Baby your mower. It’s been there for you all growing season. It starts with the pull of a string (OK maybe not the first time around) and has kept your lawn looking neat and clean all year; surely you can take a few minutes to give it a treat! Sharpen the blades, run out the gas, and change the oil and your mower will be a very happy little machine in the spring.

Harvest Those Fall Veggies! If you planted a fall vegetable crop of lettuce, spinach, kale or other leafy greens, continue to harvest them as you need. Spinach and kale can be kept growing indefinitely since it can handle the cold once established. If you’re trying to keep a few vegetables going a little longer consider make a cloche out of an old soft drink bottle. Just clean the bottle, cut the bottom out, and “pop” it over the vegetable you hope to protect. The cloche may need removed on sunny days otherwise you may end up cooking your vegetables in the garden and not in the kitchen.

Plant trees! Fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs which will continue growing roots as long as the soil stays warm enough. Soils stay warm much longer than the air does which allows newly plant trees to grow great root systems and be ready to flush out new growth in the spring.

Enjoy that great fall weather! Sunny days in the fall are some of the most magical days in the garden. Continue weeding the cool season weeds as they appear (chickweed is my cool season nemesis) and observe what is changing in your garden. Many plants offer fall and winter interest and you can fit them in where the summer annuals fade.

As I read back over this list I realized that I’ve gone over my self-allotted five things for fall. It’s not that I can’t count, rather it’s the fact that fall is such a great time to garden!