Time for Bed

By Barbara Lindholm

DeKalb Master Gardeners

Fall is a wonderful time of year when we can enjoy the beauty of vibrant autumn foliage, apple harvest and begin our hunt for the perfect Halloween pumpkin. It is also time to begin putting our gardens to bed for the winter. Time spent now preparing your plants to better survive the cold weather will give you the additional benefit of less work in the spring.

Here are a few tips to help your landscape through the winter months.

Annuals should be pulled up when they are no longer viable and discarded or composted.

As perennial plants finish this year's life cycle, most of them should be cut back to the new, basal leaf growth. Others, such as grasses and plants with interesting seedpod and berry structures may be left intact for winter interest. Tender perennials or plants located in extreme exposures should have a mulch covering after frost hardens the ground.

Most modern roses, such as hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras, require winter protection in Northern Illinois. After removing all leaves and debris, protect roses by hilling or mounding soil around the base of the plant. Remove this soil in the spring. Roses in extreme winter exposures may need additional protection. This protection can be provided in the form of leaf-filled chicken wire fencing structures, burlap covering or carefully ventilated and monitored cones. Prepare roses for winter when plants are dormant after exposure to two or three hard freezes. Normally, this is early-to-mid November in Northern Illinois.

October is the ideal time to plant spring-flowering bulbs. If soil conditions permit, bulbs can be planted as late as December. Select large, firm, healthy bulbs at your local garden center or order them from reputable catalog sources. Plant the spring-flowering bulbs in well-drained soils in partial to full sun. Bonemeal or bulb booster products may be added to the planting hole at this time. Be careful to not let any of the fertilizers come in direct contact with the bulb. Plant spring-flowering bulbs in clusters to achieve maximum visual impact.

Gardeners with large trees in their yard need to rake and dispose of the fallen leaves. A thick layer of leaves left on the lawn will damage and possibly destroy the turfgrass plants Small quantities of leaves can be shredded by a lawnmower and left on the lawn.

Strawberries should be mulched to a depth of 2"-4" in the fall to prevent winter injury. Excellent mulching materials include clean, weed-free straw and chopped cornstalks. Allow the strawberry plants to harden or acclimate to the cool fall temperatures before mulching the bed. In Northern Illinois, strawberries are normally mulched in late October to Mid-November.

Fall is an excellent time to clean and till the vegetable garden. Removal and destruction of diseased plant debris helps in disease control and eliminates hiding places for some insects and helps reduce insect populations. Additionally, a fall-tilled garden dries out and warms up quicker in the spring and permits early spring planting of the cool season crops.

This will be the last "How Does Your Garden Grow?" column for 2006. While our gardens are resting, we will have time to pour over all the new garden catalogs and begin our plans for next year's garden. Have a good winter and watch for our new series of articles starting next April.

If you have questions or comments about this article, home gardening or about the Master Gardener program, call the Master Gardeners, c/o University of Illinois Extension, DeKalb County office at (815-758-8194) or e-mail dekalb_mg.uiuc.edu.