DIY: Garden Cleaning

The right tools help simplify garden cleanup.

In fall and spring it can be tempting to hire a yard cleanup crew to get your flower beds looking their best. Doing garden cleanup yourself not only saves you money, but it allows you to keep the garden clean year around, which helps prevent problems in the soil and with the plants. Clean gardens take less time to maintain and remain healthier than those that are allowed to become overgrown or unkempt.

Things You'll Need

• Rake
• Tiller
• Straw mulch
• Herbicide
• Pruning shears
• Wood mulch

Instructions

1. Pull up annual plants in fall once they stop producing or begin to die. Throw away any plants infected with fungus or disease and compost dead and fungus-free plant materials.

2. Rake up fallen leaves and branches before it begins to snow. Clean out the leaves from under bushes and trees where they tend to collect.

3. Till under the top 4-inches of soil in annual beds with a power or hand tiller, breaking up any remaining roots in the soil so they can decompose and add nutrients to the bed.

4. Spread winter mulch, such as straw, over perennial beds once the ground begins to freeze. The mulch prevents frost damage to roots and it also helps prevent weed growth in spring.

5. Pull weeds as they begin to grow in spring as the weather warms up. Some weeds begin growing before it's warm enough for your garden plants. Treat problem areas with a herbicide targeted to the specific weed variety.

6. Prune perennials, trees and bushes that suffered winter damage. Cut out any dead or broken branches, trimming back to the nearest healthy wood. Do clean-up pruning just before or as the plants begin to break dormancy.

7. Remove winter mulches from perennial beds. Replace with more attractive summer mulches such as wood chips. Use mulch in both perennial and annual beds over the summer to help keep moisture in the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove weeds and dead plant material each week during the growing season. Regular cleaning is simpler to keep up with if you do a little at a time.

• Dead plant materials attract pests and disease-causing organisms to the garden bed.

References

• University of Nebraska Extension: Fall Vegetable Garden Cleanup
• Iowa State University: It's Garden Cleanup Time!