Homes & Gardens: Gearing Your Garden to Winter

Fall is the perfect time to plant shrubs, trees and bulbs, tend fall veggies and improve your lawn. Here are a few tips on what to do:

Pull out your annuals
Divide overgrown perennials
Lift any bulbs or plants that won’t last through the winter and put them in a cool dry place usually in a paper bag and plants in your house.
Do your fall pruning.
Rake your leaves off your lawn and use them for mulch to protect and nourish your flower beds.
Put hay or mulch around the base of your rose bushes or less hardy plants like them
Wrap up young trees and bushes prone to winter frost and wind burn.
Clean out gutters and eaves troughs
Wash your driveway and walkway to ensure that they are debris free or it could cause someone to slip

Fertilize your Lawn

Fall feeding won’t give you the instant green that your spring feeding will provide but you’ll be keeping your grass healthy because turf grasses have the ability to store food supplies during the winter months and draw from them once they begin to grow in the spring.

Slugs Breed in the Fall

If slugs are a big problem for your garden, this is a good time to set out traps.

Turn off the water to the outdoor taps and put your hoses away

Check with your favourite landscaper or gardening store if in doubt as to what needs your attention.

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