News / Life / Clark County Life

Gardening With Allen: Prepare your landscape for winter

By Allen Wilson for The Columbian

Published: October 22, 2019, 6:02am

Several things can be done in the fall to prepare your landscape for winter and make gardening easier next spring.

Weed control:

Most important is weed control. Those tiny fall weeds that are hardly noticeable now will become ugly and develop seeds over winter if not controlled now. Yes there are weeds that grow all winter long in our mild winter climate. A few strokes with a hoe now will prevent large patches of weeds from developing.

Mulching:

Once you have removed those fall and winter weeds, apply a new layer of organic mulch. This will prevent light from reaching remaining weed seeds. Weed seeds need light to germinate.

Grass clippings make good mulch. Scatter clippings at least an inch deep. Chopped leaves also make good mulch. Simply rake them on to your lawn and run a rotary lawn mower over them. Then scatter them at least an inch deep in beds.

If you prefer the appearance of bark dust, then use it instead or place it on top of other mulch.

Lawn edging:

If you have not been edging your lawn regularly, you will probably find that the grass has grown several inches into the beds. I use a shovel to undercut the grass and bring the edge back where it was. You may also want to consider moving the lawn edge back even further if shrubs have grown out over the lawn.

Trimming shrubs:

You may want to trim shrubs which have grown over the lawn, sidewalks or windows. In pruning shrubs, taper your cuts to make sure that upper branches are trimmed shorter than lower ones. Lower branches will lose leaves if they are shaded by upper ones. Avoid doing more than a minimum amount of pruning on spring-flowering shrubs such as forsythia, lilac, rhododendron, azalea and heather because you will remove flower buds.

Trimming perennial flowers:

Most perennial flowers have completed blooming and can be cut back to near the ground. Exceptions are fall-blooming asters and chrysanthemums, which can be trimmed when they complete their bloom.

Moving and planting bulbs and other flowers:

Spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips can multiply over several years and become too thick. Dig crowded bulbs and respace them at least 3 inches apart. If you have trouble locating them, make a note on your calendar to dig and space them in June or early July when you can still find the leftover plants. New bulbs can be planted until early December.

It is not too late to plant pansies and flowering kale to give color through the winter.

Heleboros is a winter-blooming perennial flower that will bloom as early as January or February if planted now.