Don't cut corners on Fall cleanup and maintenance if you want a healthy garden and landscape next year

A Fall Garden Checklist to guide you through essential tasks

It's nice to have a Fall garden checklist to help you prepare your garden for the coming colder months and ensure it comes back strong in the Spring.

Clean Up and Maintenance

• Remove dead plants, weeds, and debris from your garden beds.
• Prune and trim shrubs, trees, and perennials as needed.
• Clean and store garden tools properly for winter. See the next blog post for how to clean and sanitize your garden tools.

Soil Preparation

• Add organic matter like compost to enrich the soil.
• Consider mulching to protect soil and suppress weeds.
• Test your soil for pH and nutrient levels and make necessary amendments.

Planting

• Plant fall-blooming bulbs like tulips and daffodils for spring color.
• Sow cool-season vegetables like kale, lettuce, carrots, and radishes.
• Plant perennial flowers and shrubs for next year's blooms.

Divide and Transplant

• Divide and transplant overcrowded perennials.
• Transplant any shrubs or trees that need a new location.

Pest and Disease Control

• Remove and dispose of diseased plants.
• Clean and sanitize gardening tools to prevent disease spread.
• Consider applying dormant oil to control overwintering pests.

Fertilizing

• Apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer to lawns and garden beds.
• Avoid fertilization of plants that are going dormant.

Watering

• Adjust your watering schedule as the weather cools down.
• Reduce watering for plants that go dormant in the fall.

Protecting Tender Plants

• Cover tender plants or bring them indoors if frost is expected.
• Consider using row covers or cloths to extend the growing season.

Lawn Care

• Continue mowing the lawn until it stops growing.
• Aerate and overseed if necessary.
• Rake up fallen leaves to prevent them from smothering the grass.

Bulb Care

• If you have existing bulbs, resist the temptation to cut back foliage until it has turned brown.
• Plant spring-flowering bulbs (see our article about Spring bulbs here).

Composting

• Continue adding compostable materials to your compost pile.
• Continue to water the compost pile and turn to promote decomposition.

Garden Planning

• Reflect on the past growing season and make notes for next year.
• Plan your garden layout and order seeds and plants for the spring. Our article of garden planning software reviews is here and how to keep a garden journal is here.

Tool Maintenance

• Sharpen and oil your garden tools for winter storage. Our Garden Tool Care Guide is here.

Wildlife Considerations

• Make sure water sources for wildlife are clean and accessible.
• Clean out bird feeders and fill with food for winter birds.