Putting Your Garden to Bed
By Pamela Bowen

Gardeners always enjoy working in their flower beds in the springtime. It's a time of rapid growth, full of the promise of beautiful flowers later in the season.

It's different with autumn chores. They signal an end to the gardening season, and the beginning of a long winter. But the work you do in the fall is important -- and it can cut down on your chores in the spring.

If you're planning to enlarge your beds or create new ones next spring, consider doing the hard work in the fall. Clear off the grass and amend the soil. If you want, you can get a head start by planting perennials there in the fall.

As perennials near the end of their growing season and as cool weather arrives, each plant goes dormant according to its own natural schedule. As each perennial turns yellow, red or brown, cut it back to within a couple inches of the ground. (But if the plant has a low clump of evergreen leaves near the ground, don't cut those.)

After the first hard frost, all your annuals will turn brown or black, and these can be pulled out, roots and all. The rest of your perennials can be cut back at this time, also.

However, some woody perennials, like the butterfly bush and Russian sage, should be left alone until early spring, when they should be cut back to within 6 or 12 inches of the ground.

Do not cut back those beautiful ornamental grasses that bloom in the fall. They'll look stunning all winter, even when golden brown. These should be cut back in the spring, before new growth starts.

You may want to leave certain perennials alone until spring to provide winter interest in your garden. Tall sedums, for example, look fine all winter, and even better capped with snow. Most late-flowering daisy-like perennials like rudbeckia and purple coneflower also look good all winter, and provide food for birds.

After all your perennials are cut back, this is a good time to add lime and a layer of compost to the bed.

Fall clean-up chores actually extend into the winter. If you want to add an organic winter mulch to give the plants some protection from sudden changes in soil temperature, apply it while the ground is frozen. Just remember to remove the winter mulch in spring, to hasten the warming of the ground, or your spring plants may be slow to bloom. If we haven't had enough rain, you should continue to water your perennials and shrubs throughout the fall and winter.

Some gardeners allow the dead plant material of perennials to remain until spring. They say it helps protect the crowns of the plants, especially if you don't apply a winter mulch. But then the beds look unattractive all winter and you'll have all that dead material to cut back in the spring -- when there are much more interesting garden chores to do.

Other chores that should be done in the fall:

Round up your houseplants that summered outdoors. Check them over for diseases or insects; use the appropriate controls if necessary. Just as you gradually got the houseplants used to being outside, you must make their re-entry into the house a gradual one.

Plant spring-blooming bulbs like tulips and daffodils. There's no need to hurry with this chore -- they'll be fine if you wait until November or even December. This is one chore that shouldn't be ignored -- you'll thank yourself next spring when you're rewarded with a burst of color.

Fall is the best time to sow grass seed. The temperature is more consistent, the ground is warm, and usually there's more rain.

Edge your perennial beds. The grass won't be growing during the winter, and you won't have to waste time in the spring with this chore.

Start a compost bin, if you haven't already. Throw in all the perennials you've cut back, along with some leaves you've raked up -- but don't add weed seeds; those belong in the garbage.

Fall is a great time to divide perennials. Even if the tops are dying, the roots are alive and will continue to grow most of the winter.

Clean your containers. Scrub them out and soak them in a mixture of 9 parts water to 1 part bleach to sterilize them.

Clean your hand tools. Scrape and brush off all the soil, then apply a thin layer of oil to prevent rust.

Tender perennials such as dahlias usually won't winter over in this area. To keep them over the winter, carefully dig up the plant before the first hard frost, prune the stem to within 2 or 3 inches of the tuber or corm, and remove soil from the roots. Store upside down for two weeks to allow water to drain from the stems, then dust with sulfur to prevent fungus and store in dry sand or peat in a cool, dry area. Replant them outside in the spring, after the last frost.