What should gardeners do before the first frost? I've been putting my flower beds to rest for the season for nearly a decade, and I still need a reminder. If you're a chronic forgetter and procrastinator, this list is for you.
A light frost occurs when the nighttime temperature drops to at or just below 32°F (0°C).
A hard freeze is a period of at least four consecutive hours of air temperatures that are below 28°F (–2°C).
BEFORE FIRST FROST
Photograph the good and the bad
We all think we’ll remember what looks good and bad come plant buying time in the spring, but I never do. Snap a few photos of what you liked (and more importantly didn’t like). Make sure to photograph any bare spots, too. And if you can, do this a few times during the year. Now is especially important to document before all your tender plants turn brown and die.
Winterize your irrigation system
Turn off water supply
Connect air compressor
Turn on a zone
Turn on air compressor
Repeat
Store tender perennials (except dahlias)
Many plants that are marketed as annuals would actually be perennial, meaning they will come back next year, if only they didn’t experience any frost. This includes bananas, begonias, caladiums, cannas, colocasias, gladiolas, sweet potato vine, and coleus. For bulbs and corms like cannas and caladiums, cut the foliage back, wrap them in newspaper, put them in a cardboard box, place the box in a loose-fitting garbage bag, and store them in a dark, dry, frost-free place until summer.
Running short on time? I’ve had great success storing cannas in the same pot I grew them in. Just cut back the foliage and store them in cool, dry, frost-free place. I store mine in a basement that stays about 65 degrees F over the winter. I wish it were cooler to help encourage dormancy, but so far it's worked out fine.
Store ceramic pots
If you grow annuals in ceramic pots, now is a good time to store them for winter, as they can crack during the winter’s freeze-thaw cycles. You can do this chore into November, just as long as your ceramic pots are stored or emptied before the extremely cold temperatures hit.
Take cuttings of tender plants
I like to take cuttings of plants like coleus and tradescantia to use again next year. Simply snip the plant anywhere along the stem, pluck off the bottom leaves (so they don't rot), and let the cuttings root in a glass of water. Some cuttings will grow happily in the jar all winter, while some will appreciate being potted on.
Harvest most of your vegetable garden
This includes squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and tender herbs like basil and rosemary. Propagate or pot on and bring indoors any herb that you’d like to continue to use.
I take basil cuttings and dig up my rosemary this time of year.
Leave brassicas like kale and broccoli and other frost-tolerant veggies like carrots in the ground. The flavor will improve with the cold. Leave perennial herbs like German winter thyme, lavender, and oregano in the ground and continue to harvest throughout the season.
AFTER FIRST FROST
Resist the urge to “clean”
This isn’t your kitchen counter, there’s no need to sterilize. Old plant matter, fallen leaves, and twigs aren’t an eyesore, they are habitat for the little ecosystem in your backyard and mulch for your favorite plants. You can “chop and drop” unattractive foliage from tall plants like cosmos by cutting it into smaller pieces to compost in place. Leave attractive foliage and seed heads standing to help your garden look more vibrant during the winter.
Dig up dahlias
Wait to dig up your dahlias until they’ve gone through a few frosts, as this will help the tubers go dormant. After the foliage has gone black, dig them up and store them the same way you stored the other tropicals--in a cool, dry, dark place.
Cover marginally hardy plants with an extra layer of mulch
You little zone-pusher, you! If you are growing a plant that is barely hardy to your area or otherwise susceptible to dramatic changes in weather (like when the temp randomly goes from 60 degrees and sunny to zero and terrible), cover them with an extra layer of mulch once they go dormant. If you grow Japanese maples or pines, for example, give them some extra protection. Remember, no mulch volcanos!
Collect your favorite seed
You can collect seed any time it’s ripe, but over the next month or so, take advantage of dry days and harvest seed from cosmos, rudbeckia, coneflower, gomphrena, celosia, and other plants easily propagated from seed.
Pull stakes
Self explanatory, but I always forget and then they freeze solid.
Mulch trees and herbaceous perennials
Protect your trees and herbaceous perennials with a generous application of mulch, which can be done anytime in the coming months.
Pull perennial plants that you consider to be weeds
I like pulling perennial weeds this time of year because I can see weeds like bindweed that show up in early summer (so usually go unnoticed by me).
Clover
Dandelions
Crabgrass
Ox-eyed daisy
Bind weed
Broadleaf Plantain
Canadian Thistle
Or anything out of place
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