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Fall Cleanup
Garden Tips Newsletter - November 27, 2000

Although there have been times this fall that it seems summer still has it's grip on the season, it is time to get ready for those coming cold snaps. With one major cold snap come and gone and more on the way, cleaning up your yard and garden will help pave the way for a beautiful spring. A sure sign of fall are the fallen leaves. Instead of seeing the leaves as trash -- begin to look at them as treasures. Fallen leaves can be very valuable as ingredients for the compost pile or as mulch in your beds. Composting will provide fertile soil for your garden beds and mulch will protect your beds during the winter.

After raking the leaves, turn your sites on perennials that may need trimming. Perennials with sturdy stalks can stay in your garden as long as they have foliage or you can stand to look at them. Once you tire of them simply cut them down to the ground and wait their spring return. Perennials that tire out and flop over in the fall should be cleaned up right away. Cutting away their foliage and stems will keep them from rotting during the wet and cool months. If you have ornamental grasses, these can be kept until they start collapsing or shedding their leaves. Cut the grass back to just a few short stubs. With your evergreen perennials don't prune them just yet. Only prune to groom or to get rid of dead stems.

These archived newsletters were written by Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly. Kelly is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.