Kathryn Kufahl, from Master Gardeners of the Ozarks – Stone and Taney Counties in Missouri, presented a program at the October 2018 CCMG monthly meeting. She brought a number of cuttings from her fall garden. The subject of her talk was fall home garden management.
What do we do in the garden, after the frost?
Fall is a wonderful time for evaluating your garden
- Make notes on choices that worked well
- List suggestions for things to try next year
- Draw maps to remember locations of bulbs/new plants
Soil Tests can be done now
- Busy time for soil test lab is February to April, beat the rush
- Collect several samples from the area, then mix
- Should be at least 3 months after previous fertilization
- Best to do every 3-4 years, submit to Extension Office
Manage leaves for future benefits
- Please don’t burn leaves, great organic resource
- Leaves can be left on yard if mowed
Create a leaf mold pile
- Pile leaves and spread with mower
- Small pieces will reduce in volume 15:1 or more
- Allow pile to naturally decompose
- Be spring, resulting product great for mulch
- Also useful for creating “lasagna” garden
Clean up in the garden
- Remove annual plants and compost them
- Cutting down perennials is an option
- You may prefer leaving perennials for winter interest and feeding birds
- Mulch newly planted items, especially marginal ones