How to Prepare Flower Beds for Fall
The days begin to grow shorter, the nights cooler and many flower varieties produce one last flowering flush during the fall months. Some flowers begin to wilt and die as the seasons change. Preparing the flower beds in the fall helps increase the odds of perennials surviving the long winter months. Flowers go into fall and winter dormancy at varying time frames, so fall garden preparations usually span several weeks with numerous small gardening tasks that must be accomplished as the seasons change. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Water flower beds regularly throughout the late summer and fall months so the plants can build up a deep and extensive root system. Flowering plants require water until full dormancy arrives.
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Clip away all spent flower heads and foliage, using pruning shears, as they begin to turn yellow and die. Discard all foliage to prevent diseases or overwintering insects from occurring in the flower beds.
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Pull up annual flowers and discard as they begin to die. Leaving the spent annual flowers in the flower bed cause diseases and insects to occur through the winter.
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Plant bulbs and some perennials that require fall planting; such as tulips, daffodils, Asiatic lilies and cone flowers. Divide perennials that have overgrown during the summer months and replant the smaller clumps.
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Pull up all weeds in the flower beds and discard them. Lay a layer of mulch 2 to 3 inches deep throughout the flower bed after the first two hard frosts of the season occur.
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Tips & Warnings
Avoid fertilizing flower beds in the fall months, or perennials may produce new growth that will be damaged during a fall frost.
Use a light mulch, such as bark chips, so the mulch does not compact during the winter months and suffocate the plant's root system.
Remove all leaves from the flower bed. Leaves can compact around flowers and cause root rot to occur.
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