Now is the time to walk through your garden and take note of not only the plants growing in your garden, but also the insects and diseases setting up residence. You might be surprised at what you find. Do not compost or use for mulch any plants or leaves that are diseased or infected. Prune and discard branches from your garden.
A few simple steps will get your landscape ready for winter weather.
PRUNING: Remove any dead or diseased branches from your trees and shrubs. Cut perennial flower color down to 3-4″ above the ground.
FLOWERS: Remove annual flower color and replace with pansies. If you do not use winter flower color you may leave your annual flower color on until the first frost. Some tender annuals may have to be pulled sooner (i.e. potato vine)
MULCH: Mulch your landscape beds to prevent freeze damage during the winter. Mulch 2-3 ” deep for our area.
SPRINKLERS: Check your rain/freeze sensors to make sure it is working. Vines growing up around the sensors can affect the performance. Some cities are now fining for sprinklers going off during freezes. If you do not have a freeze sensor now is a good time to install one.