Although I live in a condo and don't have a garden, I feel for you burgeoning green thumbs with nothing to do when the weather turns chilly and frost warnings threaten to take away your hobby until spring. Because I suspect that you may have given up even looking for inspiration, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some of the fabulous fall gardening tips we at HGTV.ca. I've complied the top five fall gardening ideas from some of our best articles so you can get back to your garden.
Fertilize and Compost
Start a compost with any veggies from the garden that are past their prime and even better, take your food waste outdoors. As gross as it sounds, decomposing food is filled with nutrients that enrich the soil with nitrogen for the spring. This is also a great time to add fresh fertilizer to keep plants and bushes as healthy as possible through the icy months.
Keep Your Plants Hydrated
Water perennials throughout the fall to keep them from drying out. This will ensure that the roots get a little cold weather growth and ultimately survive the winter.
Plant Bulbs
Fall is the perfect time to plant bulbs for a gorgeous display of blooms next year. Some great flowers to try are tulips, narcissus and crocus — all perfect harbingers of the spring season. To make sure that your bulbs survive until spring, make sure you cover them with fresh fertilizer and, if you're planting tulips and crocus, chicken wire to prevent squirrels from eating your floral crops.
Weed, Weed, Weed
Chances are that your weeds are deep-rooted (pun intended) and return each year to your chagrin. Fall is the perfect time to pull some of those pesky perennials. The cooler climate makes them a bit easier to control and because plant sugars move down to the roots in the cold, herbicides are more effective.
Prepare for Winter
Finally, your garden needs a little TLC before that first snowfall. Protect your plants and trees by trimming long branches that may gather snow and break. And don't leave container gardens outside, pots will crack and most plants in containers aren't meant to last the winter anyway.
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Top 5 appears every Friday on Style Sheet.