In the fall, garden growth will mostly end, and your remaining plants may die or go dormant. But just because the fall is the end of the growing season doesn’t mean you can just ignore your garden! Let’s discuss a few helpful fall garden tips that can help you get ready for the end of the season.
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Remove Unwanted Growth From Your Garden
This is a great time to remove spent vegetable plants, pick weeds, remove dying or dead annual plants, and any other unwanted vegetation from your garden to prepare it for the fall and winter. Whether you’re leaving your garden dormant until the spring or you’re planting winter cover crops, this is the ideal time to clear away old growth – and make room for new growth!
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Rake Leaves Onto The Lawn & Mow Them With A Grass Catcher
Want a simple, free way to enhance the carbon and nitrogen content of your soil?
Rake your leaves into a long strip, toss your grass catcher on the back of your mower, and start mowing the leaves into the grass catcher. Empty it onto your garden and repeat until all the leaves are gone, or the garden is covered!
Leaf litter is great for your garden, and will help enhance fertility and prevent weeds during the next growing season.
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Consider Planting a Cover Crop For Your Garden
Winter cover crops are usually grasses like winter wheat and winter barley, or legumes like alfalfa or soy beans. These crops initially sprout in the fall, stay dormant during the winter, then continue to grow and can be harvested or removed in the early spring.
Cover crops can help improve plant growth by fixing nitrogen, help control erosion in the winter, and reduce soil compaction. In addition, a cover crop helps impair the growth of weeds and other unwanted plants – it’s harder for weeds to compete with healthy cover crops in the spring, so they’re less likely to take root in your garden.
Follow These Fall Garden Tips For A Healthier Garden Next Year!
By taking proper care of your garden all-year-round, you can take advantage of the spring and summer to grow beautiful flowers, luscious vegetables, and plump fruits more easily. So think about how you can use these tips to prepare your garden for fall, and shop online at the Soil King to get what you need for the end of the summer!