09/27/2026
🍂🌿 PUTTING THE GARDEN TO BED FOR FALL & WINTER 🌿🍂
A checklist from Amanda Mosiman, Staff Horticulturist at Family Roots Nursery
Fall is here! Preparing your garden for winter doesn’t mean making it perfectly tidy. A thoughtful cleanup can improve your soil, protect plants, support wildlife & set you up for a beautiful spring. 🌷
🍁 START NOW! Watch the weather instead of the calendar. Don’t rush to remove everything after the first frost—some plants provide winter interest & wildlife habitat.
🥕 VEGETABLE GARDEN: Remove diseased plants, spent annual vegetables, rotting fruit & weeds before they seed. Don’t compost plants with significant disease or insect problems.
🌱 FEED THE SOIL: Fall is a great time to add compost or well-aged organic matter. Consider a soil test before fertilizing. Cover crops like cereal rye, winter wheat, crimson clover, hairy vetch & oats can benefit larger gardens.
🌿 WEEDS: Remove annual weeds before they seed & control perennial weeds while actively growing. Mulch after weeding.
🌻 PERENNIALS: Cut back diseased or unsightly foliage, but consider leaving coneflowers, Black-eyed Susans, grasses, sedum & other seed-producing plants for birds and beneficial insects.
🍂 MULCH: After the soil cools, apply 2–4". Keep mulch away from plant crowns, tree trunks & shrub stems.
🌳 TREES & SHRUBS: Remove dead, broken or diseased branches. Water new plantings until the ground freezes during dry weather. Avoid heavy fall pruning of spring-flowering shrubs—you may remove next year’s blooms!
🏡 LAWNS: Continue mowing while grass grows. Mulch leaves when possible or remove heavy buildup. Fall is an excellent time for cool-season lawn improvement.
🌷 PLANT SPRING BULBS: Tulips, daffodils, crocus, alliums & hyacinths!
✂️ TOOLS: Clean, disinfect & sharpen tools. Drain hoses and store equipment dry.
💧 DON’T FORGET TO WATER! Newly planted trees, shrubs & evergreens especially need adequate moisture going into winter.
🐦 Leave some seed heads, hollow stems & leaf litter for birds, pollinators and beneficial insects.
🍂 CLEAN UP → 🌱 FEED THE SOIL → 🛡️ PROTECT PLANTS → 🐦 SUPPORT WILDLIFE → 🌷 PLAN FOR SPRING
— Amanda Mosiman, Staff Horticulturist
Family Roots Nursery, Inc. 🌿
4781 W 1200 S
Dale, IN 47523
