Fall gardening looks different these days.
When Nana prepped her garden for fall, she "cleaned" all the way down to bare soil. But today we understand that treating our soil like a kitchen counter isn't what’s best for our garden.
And some perennials actually look pretty good in winter, at least until our first heavy wet snow.
Unless the perennial in question had a foliar disease like black spot or scab, , you might choose to do a little less in your garden this year.
Fallen leaves are great mulch, seedheads are eaten by birds, and insects overwinter in dried plant matter. The leaves act as insulation from our bitter winters, and plants that are only marginally hardy here (like my black lace elderberry) really appreciate the cover.
I leave all of the fallen leaves in my garden. I have a big maple that drops a ton of leaves right onto my garden and plenty blow in from my neighbors. At first I thought all the leaves might make a thick mat and choke out my perennials, so I would rake them out, chop them up, and then put them back.
Ultimately this seemed a bit silly (why would I remove leaves just to put them right back?) so nowI just let them be and it hasn't been a problem. Even the smallest spring bulbs like crocus find their way through.
If you're on the fence about letting your garden be a bit wild this winter, I so encourage you to try leaving more standing this year. With a keen eye, I think a garden can still retain some semblance of order, especially with the help of evergreens and conifers.
But of course, do whatever makes sense for you. This isn’t always a reasonable approach if you live within an HOA or if you feel your neighbors wouldn't appreciate it.
That being said, there are a few things you absolutely should not cut back at this time.
Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs like lilacs, fruit trees, and forsythia. They’ve already formed their flower buds, so if you prune now, you’ll prune off the flowers.
Interestingly, most resources suggest not to prune at all in the fall. The reason is that our fall season is so short that it’s unlikely the plant will heal in time for winter, and any pathogens are still active. Open wounds, whether or not the plant is dormant, are stressful.
Our short season is also why I don’t recommend planting trees, especially conifers, in the fall. There just isn’t enough time between those hot august days and winter for those kinds of plants to get established.
I wait to do this kind of pruning in very late winter and early spring, around the time the first spring bulbs come out. At this point you’ll see leaf buds begin to swell, but they are still far from leafing out. I cut back my red-twig dogwood and smokebush clear to the ground at this time.
This is also when I prune back woody herbs, like thyme and lavender.
Don’t cut back grasses. Proven winners says that you can cut back warm season grasses (which most ornamental grasses are) any time after the plant goes dormant. But first, most of these grasses look just as good in winter as they do in fall, and leaving them standing provides food and habitat for birds and protects the crown of the plant. Instead, cut them back in early spring, right when new growth begins but isn’t too tall that you’ll cut into it.
It’s not a good time to prune, however a good time to plant spring blooming bulbs and divide and plant herbaceous perennials, which don’t need nearly as much time to establish or which can kinda just sit in the soil over winter and then start growing out those roots in spring.
Another thing I try to do this time of year is edge. In early spring I try to stay out of my beds as much as possible so I don’t compact them, so I like to edge in fall. Plus it’s great to look at a crisp edge all winter and early spring, it makes everything look much tidier, especially if you’re leaving leaves in the bed.
I do mulch any fallen leaves into the grass. Fallen leaves can be bad to leave on the lawn, but the grass definitely appreciates them being ground into leaf mulch. You can also toss the leaf mulch in your flower beds or veggie beds. Definitely don’t waste your leaves by burning them or throwing them away!
And lastly, now is a great time to mulch your beds so the mulch can begin breaking down for next year.
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