Properly preparing your flower beds for winter will help ensure a healthy bed for spring. Debris from annual and herbaceous plants often become the winter home for disease and undesirable insects, which may then wreak havoc on your spring plants. Make time this fall to get your flower beds ready for winter.
Keep Watering
Even though the weather is cooler and plants don’t seem as thirsty as they did during the peak of summer, it’s important to continue watering your flowers. Once a week, give them a deep watering to help your perennials grow deep roots. Continue to water until the ground is too cold to hold it.
Remove Weeds
Leaving weeds in your garden over the winter is an open invitation for pests and disease. Remove all of the weeds in your garden and put them in your compost pile if they’re healthy; discard them if they show signs of pests or disease since the heat generated by your compost pile won’t kill pathogens.
Remove Annuals
Immediately after the first killing frost, remove all of your annuals from your beds. Healthy annuals can go in the compost; annuals that have signs of pests or disease should be discarded.
Cut Back Perennials
As your perennials lose their summer stamina and begin to yellow and wilt, cut them back to the soil. Perennials that winter well and add color to your yard can stay, but cut them back in early spring to encourage new growth.
Insulate Your Plants
The plants remaining in your garden beds need to be insulated to protect them from decaying when water accumulates at the roots. Wait until two frosts have occurred, then lay 2 to 3 inches of mulch around your remaining plants; be careful not to cover the actual plants.
