Fall Garden Clean-Up: How to Put Your Garden to Bed

A little work in fall pays off all spring. When you put your garden to bed carefully, you clear out the debris where pests and diseases spend the winter, give your perennials a clean start, and get your soil ready to feed next year's growth. It doesn't need to take long, either. Most gardens can be done in a couple of weekends with the right tools and a simple plan.

Here's the order we like to work in.

1. Clear leaves and debris from the beds

By the end of summer, beds collect fallen leaves, spent flowers, sticks and old plant stems. A thick, wet mat of leaves left on top of perennials and lawn can smother them and hold moisture against crowns all winter.

A Telescopic Leaf Rake makes this much easier. The handle extends from 31 to 63 inches and the fan tines adjust from 7.5 to 22 inches wide. Narrow it to slip between shrubs and perennials, then open it up for broad sweeps across the lawn. To skip the endless trips to the compost pile, rake onto a Garden Leaf Tarp and drag the whole load at once. For smaller loads and weeds, a 7-gallon TuffTote has handles rated for 225 pounds and stays flexible in cold weather.

Don't waste the leaves. Shredded leaves make excellent mulch or compost. Run a mower over a pile, then spread the pieces on beds or pile them up to break down into leaf mold by next year.

2. Cut back perennials (but not all of them)

Many perennials look tired by fall. Daylilies, hostas and peonies leave behind a mat of yellowing or browning foliage. Cutting these back to a couple of inches above the ground tidies the bed and means new spring growth won't have to push through old leaves. Always remove foliage that showed disease this year, such as peony leaves with leaf blotch or anything with powdery mildew, and throw it away rather than composting it.

You don't have to cut everything. Plenty of gardeners leave sturdy seed heads like coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and ornamental grasses standing through winter. They add structure to the winter garden, feed birds, and give shelter to beneficial insects. Cut those back in late winter or early spring instead.

For clean cuts in crowded beds, Long Needle Nose Secateurs reach deep into dense plants without damaging nearby stems, and their sap grooves help keep the blades clean. A 7" Quick Release Bypass Pruner handles woodier stems. For thicker branches on shrubs, the Ratchet Lopper multiplies your hand strength to cut branches up to 2.5 inches across.

A note on shrubs: hold off on heavy pruning of spring-flowering shrubs such as lilac, forsythia and azalea. They've already set next year's flower buds, so pruning now cuts off the spring show. Stick to removing dead, damaged or crossing branches.

3. Pull the last weeds

Perennial weeds keep building their roots in fall, and many annual weeds are dropping seed. Every one you remove now means fewer next spring. Weed after a rain, when the soil is soft, so roots come out whole. The Classic Angle Weeder slides under the crown and levers out the root, and the Culti-Weeder loosens crusted soil and takes out shallow weeds in a single pass. Put weeds that have gone to seed in the trash, not the compost.

4. Feed the soil

Fall is a great time to build up your soil. Spread an inch or two of finished compost over the beds and work it lightly into the top few inches. Over the winter it keeps breaking down, improving soil structure and feeding the soil life your plants rely on in spring. Go easy on fast-release, high-nitrogen fertilizers this late in the season. They can push tender new growth just before frost.

To scoop and spread compost, The Original Soil Scoop digs, scoops and opens bags with its serrated edge. For working compost in, use a Round Tine Hand Fork or Claw Cultivator around established plants, or the Telescopic Claw Cultivator to do larger beds standing up.

If you haven't tested your soil in a few years, fall is a good time. Your local extension office can usually run an inexpensive test, so you'll know what (if anything) to add before spring.

5. Plant spring bulbs

Tulips, daffodils, crocus and alliums need a cold spell to bloom, so they go in during fall. A common rule of thumb is to plant once soil has cooled, a few weeks before the ground freezes. That's often September through November, depending on where you live. Plant each bulb about two to three times as deep as it is tall, pointed end up, and water after planting.

The Tiger Trowel has a heavy-duty stainless steel blade that works well in hard soil and clay. Our Komfy Kneeler makes a long bulb-planting session much easier on your knees.

Fall is also the time to plant garlic and to divide crowded perennials like hostas and daylilies, so they settle in before winter.

6. Mulch to finish

Once the beds are clean and fed, add a layer of mulch, about 2 to 3 inches of shredded bark, leaves or straw. Mulch holds moisture, keeps soil temperature steadier through freeze-thaw cycles, and helps hold back weeds next spring. Keep mulch a few inches away from tree trunks and the crowns of perennials so they don't stay wet and rot. In colder regions, many gardeners wait until the ground has started to cool before mulching tender perennials.

It's the finishing touch, like a fresh comforter on a bed.

7. Take care of your tools before winter

Before you hang everything up, spend a few minutes on tool care. Your tools will thank you in spring:

• Clean: knock off the soil and rinse. Wipe sap off pruner blades.
• Dry: let everything dry fully before storing to prevent rust.
• Sharpen and oil: touch up pruner and lopper edges, then wipe metal parts with a light coat of oil.
• Store: hang tools somewhere dry. Drain and coil hoses, and bring them in before a hard freeze.

Don't forget your hands, either. A good pair of leather gloves, like our Leather Pro's Gardening Gloves, protects you from thorns, splinters and rough stems during the heaviest clean-up jobs.

Your fall clean-up checklist

1. Rake leaves and debris out of beds and off the lawn
2. Cut back tired perennials; leave sturdy seed heads for winter interest and wildlife
3. Remove and throw away diseased foliage
4. Pull remaining weeds, especially ones going to seed
5. Spread compost and work it into the top of the soil
6. Plant spring bulbs (and garlic), and divide crowded perennials
7. Mulch beds once the soil starts to cool
8. Clean, dry, sharpen and store your tools

Want the whole kit in one place? Browse our Fall Cleanup collection of pruners, loppers, shears and saws. For more on choosing tools that last, see Fall Cleanup Toolkit: Which Heirloom Tools Earn a Spot in the Shed.