Lawns
- Hand rake lawns to remove leaves and encourage air movement in roots.
- Top dress with uneven spots with top soil and/or peat moss. Reseed bare spots.
- Aerate lawn with a minimum of 2” plugs (not too dry). Leave plugs on top of lawn.
- Apply Fertilome Winterizer 1 lb. of high nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 sq ft. of turf. Water in well.
Planting Beds
- Remove leaves and debris from beds pulling any weeds.
- Remove any dead plant material.
- Top dress beds with 2-3” compost. Lightly hand rake in – do not tear at perennial roots. Apply mulch.
Perennials
- After the first hard frost, cut back blooming perennials 3-4” above the ground. Leave some stubble for wildlife and this will also help to locate them next spring.
- Use Fertilome Weed Free Zone herbicide to kill weeds. Weed Free Zone is still effective down to 45 degrees.
Shrubs & Trees
- Apply tree wrap (especially for new thin barked trees like Honey locust, Green Ash, Redbud, Fruit trees, & soft Maples)
- Prune trees during the winter when they are bare so you can see branch structure. Maples and Birch should be pruned in fall after leaf drop.
- Cut back summer blooming shrubs such as Russian Sage, Butterfly Bush and Blue Mist Spirea to 3-6” above soil level either now or in the springtime.
- Do not trim spring blooming shrubs like forsythia, lilac, etc. Because their flower buds have already formed. You may trim dead branches on these however.
- Prune to shape Smokebush, Rose of Sharon, Hydrangea, Potentilla, Ninebark, etc. sometime before spring leaves emerge.
- Apply rose collars to rose bushes and fill with compost to help protect the graft from winter injury.
Annuals
- Use insulation blankets over the top of tender annuals to extend flowering into our beautiful Indian Summer.
- After a hard frost, remove dead plant material to prepare pots for decorating your porch with Fresh Holiday Greens. Ask The Green Team for details.
- Plant frost hardy pansies.
Vegetables
- Cover ground beds with insulation tunnels to extend the harvest season.
- Sow cool season seeds outdoors in your prepared garden bed for lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, beets and peas
- Consider constructing a cold frame for serious season extension.
General Maintenance
- Clean patio and garden furniture for storage
- Clean bird baths and bird feeders for winter season.
