Cleaning Up Your Garden
Once the final harvest is done in the autumn, it is time to clean up your garden and carefully prepare it for the next season. Most of this work can be done over the winter months. Having too much debris in your beds from the year before can attract pest and plant diseases that can emerge with a vengeance next spring, so it is important to clean up as much as possible beforehand. All the dead plants, leaves, stalks and weeds should be collected and thrown into your winter compost pile. However, if you have already had plant diseases in your garden, it is important to not throw this material in your compost pile. Quite simply, many plant diseases, especially those that flourish in the soil itself, may thrive in the compost environment; therefore it is better to avoid any contamination if at all possible.
If you planted blubs during the autumn, be sure to remember this when cleaning out your garden as some winter maintenance may be called for. Further, since winter provides a good opportunity to turn your soil and remove unwanted root systems, remembering where your bulbs are planted can help you avoid destroying them before they can emerge in the spring.
Outdoor potted plants should also be cleaned up, especially if you have many clay pots. Clay pots absorb moisture and can freeze and crack during the winter, so emptying them and cleaning them out thoroughly is a good idea. The plants themselves can be composted, as can the soil, providing you with a wealth of potting soil for the next season. To recycle your potting soil, just put it in the compost pile and it will rejuvenate it thoroughly. As is the case with your garden debris, be careful avoid throwing any plant debris that comes from diseased plants into your compost pile as this may lead to the disease surviving and coming back to haunt you the next year.
Tags: Environment, Garden Debris, Plant Diseases