10 Fall Garden Chores to Do Now For an Easier Spring

Even though this year’s garden may be going to bed, there are many things you can do in the fall to prepare for what’s to come next spring! Here are ten garden chores to do now to make gardening easier when the snow melts.

What to Do This Autumn to Make Next Year’s Gardening Season Easier

1. Buy Soil and Mulch for Next Year

If your local garden centre has any dirt or mulch left, now is the time to get it on sale. Don’t worry if you can’t put it in your garden just yet. Those bags will keep until spring.

I find it helpful to store a bag of dirt, fertilizer, and my small pots downstairs so they are ready when it’s time to start my seeds in the spring. No trekking outside to the garden shed in -40°C for this girl!! (Not that I’ve done that before, or anything…)

Related: The Cheapest and Best Way to Get Rid of Weeds Without Chemicals

2. Trim Down Perennials

If you’re short on time, you can save this chore for spring. At the very least, pull out all of the annuals in your pots and add them to your compost pile.

Related: Overwintering Perennials in Raised Beds in Zone 3

3. Mark Perennial Locations & Take Pictures

There is nothing worse in your gardening life than planting something new, only to realize it’s inches away from an established plant that’s going to overshadow it. This is especially important if you’ve moved into a new home with an established yard.

4. Take in Bulbs for Overwintering

Unless you’re in USDA hardiness Zone 8 or higher, dahlias, calla lilies, and gladiolus all need to come inside for the winter

To store, dig up the bulbs and remove all dirt. Store them in a cool, dry place like a basement or crawl space–anywhere that won’t get below 0°C/32°F. Check your bulbs periodically over the winter and throw away any that are starting to rot.

Related: How to Overwinter Dahlias in Cold Climates, How to Overwinter Glads in a Cold Climate

5. Transplant Perennials and Plant Spring Bulbs

Now is the time to transplant peonies, astilbes, bleeding hearts, irises, day lilies, lily of the valley, and Asiatic lilies. All of these flowers can be transplanted in spring, but you’ll have a better first year of establishment if you do it in the fall. Ensure your newly transplanted perennial gets lots of water until the snow falls.

Head over to your local garden centre for spring bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and allium. Planting in spring is too late because these bulbs need the cool winter to flower. This is also a good time to plant garlic. For Zones 9 and 10, you may need to dig up these bulbs and store them in a fridge over the winter.

Related: How to Start a Perennial Garden

6. Cover Tender Shrubs

I live in a climate where no one wraps their shrubs for the winter. However, I know in other parts of North America this is standard practice.

7. Winterize Your Strawberries

Strawberries are hardy to Zone 2, but they require some extra care and attention in the fall to make sure they return in the spring. Here’s what to do to make sure your strawberries don’t die.

8. Harvest tender vegetables before the first frost

Tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, and peppers all need to be picked before the first frost, even if they are not ripe, so check the weather forecast daily. Some years I’ve had to harvest everything as early as September 3rd, other years I’ve been able to wait until after September 19th (the average first frost date where I live).

Not sure what your first frost date is? Here’s a handy resource for Canadian and American frost dates.

If the daily low gets to just above freezing and you live in the country or are worried about the temperature dipping lower than expected, you can cover your plants with old sheets. That said, root vegetables are generally just fine in the ground during a frost. In fact, carrots taste better after the first hard frost, so leave them in the ground without regret! I find that, for whatever reason, potatoes don’t follow this rule. If you leave them in the ground during a killing frost, the taste will change, and they’ll go mushy. Go figure.

Related: How to Harvest and Process Fresh Pumpkin

9. Make Your Own Compost

I’m not talking about your compost bin (although if you have one, that is an excellent start). Collect all of the leaves you rake up and leave them outside in garbage bags over the winter. When spring comes, spread them out over your garden and rototill them in for an excellent compost.

10. Collect Annual Seeds

You can save yourself a large expense next spring if you plant heirloom varieties and learn how to collect your own seeds. Tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, and peppers are all really easy vegetables to start collecting from. As for flowers? Here are some of the easiest annual flowers to harvest seeds from, perfect for beginner seed savers.

Want to save more money? Here are the fall garden chores that will save you money next spring.

Is there anything I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments what you do in the fall to make things easier in the spring!

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NEED MORE HELP IN THE GARDEN?

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