Helpful Tips for Your End of Summer Garden Clean-Up
The end of summer can be challenging for gardeners and landscape enthusiasts — the start of cool weather signals end of season garden maintenance and winter preparations. You want to act quickly and complete your summer garden clean-up before it starts raining.
Part of the preparation involves giving plants the attention they deserve to set them up for a healthy landscape. In this case, you want to create a garden to-do list to ensure you don’t miss any critical process. This post will cover tips for end of summer garden cleanup to help you have a great winter and spring start.
Weed Out
Weed seeds flourish in summer, particularly in hot, humid areas. Remove any dead or diseased plants from your garden. Diseased plants go into the trashcan, while dead plants go into the compost. Stay consistent with this task to keep unwanted plants from competing for the same nutrients available for your plants.
Harvest and Clear Space
Of course, the end of summer provides an excellent opportunity to harvest and clear the space for new crops or plants. If you’re a vegetable grower, you must remove the browned plants to allow new ones to grow when it rains. By removing dying portions, you’ll have an easier time cleaning up later in the fall. If it rains early, you might have another good harvest before winter.
Maintain Shrubs and Trees
Keep your garden tidy by maintaining your trees and shrubs. Deadhead the annuals and perennials that are too leggy. The goal isn’t to prepare them for spring but to keep them in good shape for fall, meaning no adding fertilizer until late fall. If your area is still sweltering, consider deep watering the plants. Prune large branches as needed to encourage fresh new growth.
Plant for Fall
If your region is suitable for gardening, August is the perfect time to prepare your garden. As the cooler temperatures set in, crops like lettuce, kale, mustard greens, arugula, and spinach will thrive, and you will likely harvest them before the snow hits. Sow your fall seeds in late August directly into the ground and keep them watered to encourage sprouting. If you live in an area that takes time to cool, you can still plant broccoli, radishes, cabbage, and beets. If you can’t grow more vegetables on the ground, plant cover crops to keep the soil loose and prevent weed growth.
Prep Your Lawn
Before it starts snowing, focus on the lawn. Co-aerate to reduce soil compaction and add compost to improve fertility. This allows your seedlings to sprout and develop stronger roots.
Clear the Lawn Leaves
The autumn leaves will start to fall soon. Get ready to remove them as soon as they start dropping, as they can kill and smother the turf. The best way to do this is by collecting and composting them and using them to improve the soil quality next year. Use a lawn mower. Attach a grass-catching bag and empty it into the pile once it gets full.
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Categorised in: Gardening