Putting The Garden To Bed & What To Do Now (October)

Phew, fall sure did come quickly to the prairies, this year! Leaves were green, gold, and then gone... all within the span of 2 weeks. Crazy beans! 

We have been doing a little bit nearly every day to clean out the gardens and yards. Our goal is always to have things buttoned up by Thanksgiving.

We are so not there this year! Some crazy fool (ahem) plants so many flowers and veggies, that there is a crazy amount of compostable material to clean up (plus other tasks) at the end of the year ; ) 

On the island, I used to hold a free 'Putting The Garden To Bed/Planting Garlic' workshop on Thanksgiving weekend (price was a food bank donation of any kind, big or little). 

Here on the prairies, we need to get the garden cleaned up soon-ish just in case winter comes early. We occasionally get snow in October, though it usually melts right away, but you never know what mother nature is going to throw at you, eh? 

Added at posting time - apparently we are getting snow and cold this weekend, so the harvest timing is even more critical. Yes, the snow will melt and the days will be warm again by next week, but that will be the end of any of the tender plants.   

Just a reminder that much of what I usually would do in late summer and early fall is impossible this year, as I just got (another) brand new hip a few weeks ago. However, here are things I would do or that hubby will do for me! Can hardly wait till next year! 

• I would usually be planting spring blooming bulbs at this time. The plan is to keep adding to the yard each year so that, eventually, I have a whole lotta colour in early spring. Bulbs are pricey so adding more annually makes it easier on the budget... though takes a while.   
• Deer love tulips so only plant those behind a fence. 
• The best tulips to plant for blooms for many years are Darwins and Triumphs. The fancy tulips will only bloom one year. If your goal is to bring them in to fill your vases, go for it! I also like to use them in pots and planters, while using the Darwin types in the garden. 
• For deer proof bulbs, I plant scilla, crocus, muscari, alliums, daffodils, snowdrops, chionodoxa, and maybe iris reticulata (I did not expect much from these on the cold prairies, but they were great this spring!)

Tulips and daffodils are planted in clumps of 5 or more - Photo Source. 

When planting bulbs, do not plant them all in a row, like little soldiers. Instead, plant them in clumps of odd numbers (5 or 7) for bigger impact. Or... if you are wanting to make them into a wide border plantings, go three (or more) bulbs deep, all in a dense row. 

My peonies flopping after a rain. 

• Divide and move herbaceous perennials, such as dianthus, peonies, rhubarb...
• Cut back peonies to a few inches tall. 
• Cut back yarrow to prevent spreading! 
• Cut back roses by 1/3 to keep them from breaking with snow loads and heavy rains. 

Leaves are placed on raised garden beds (like my garlic bed above) and raked onto in ground beds.

Leaves have turned my hard clay soil into beautiful, friable, rich garden soil. 

As always, leave the leaves as that is where the beneficial insects are going to overwinter. Do not mulch your leaves or you will be shredding up those insects, too. Eek! 

Fall Veggie Planting.... 

• Garlic can go in the ground anytime this month. Here on the prairies, you want to go 4 or 5 inches deep. On the warmer west coast, you only go down 2 inches, so the tip of the garlic is just below the soil's surface. 
• Spinach - Once you have your gardens cleaned up, sow a few rows of spinach for an earlier crop in spring. 
• Carrots - Sow a few rows of carrots for earlier harvests next summer. Do not sow now if you live in a zone 6 or above! For warmer zones, you want to sow your carrots around winter solstice... I used to sow on Christmas or Boxing Day.  
• You can also try sowing hardy lettuces, beets, and even onions here in a zone 3. Some years they will work, some they won't. Nothing to lose by trying. 

There is not a lot we can grow over winter in a zone 3. Our 30 to 40 below temps tend to kill most things. The many freeze and thaws in spring (or during a chinook) kill the rest of them. 

What a mess! It has gotta look worse before it gets better ; )  

'Garden Clean Up' is happening. 

We started in mid-September already, filling the green wheelie bin each week. 

Now that we are at a crux, everything must go fast. Sadly, our town does not have a fall waste pick up week so we are going to fill our neighbours green bins (thank goodness for great neighbours), plus haul some to the town waste drop off.  

Hubby has pulled all the borage, zinnias, dahlias, and some of the cosmos. We have been leaving the sunflowers and most of the cosmos standing as long as possible as the yard is still humming with bees and hoverflies. 

Flower pots have been loaded onto the patio table to wait for a wash. I like to do them now so they are ready to go in spring. I just use water with dish soap, but you can also add in a wee bit of bleach. 

Harvesting Flower Seeds

If you grow a whole lot of annual flowers in your potager, to feed the bees and attract beneficial insects, you can save a whole lotta money by saving your own seeds. Best of all... it is super simple. 

Cosmos - Fancy, new varieties will revert back to some shade of pink. They are easy to save seeds from, though, so if you are okay with getting the luck of the draw, harvest seeds to save loads of money next year. 

I had the dark reds of Cosmos Rubenza come back just fine. The yellows came back fine. Will let you know about the whites (singles and doubles) as I collected many this summer. 

Sunflowers - super easy to save seeds from. Wait till petals fall and backs turn yellow before harvesting. 

Sunflowers will also self seed, if left standing, and birds will help to spread the seeds far and wide. I even had one grow in one of my flower pots. 

Zinnias - wait till the flowers are brown and then harvest the flower heads. As you pull out the petals, the seeds are the arrow shaped bits at the base of the flower. If they are flat they will not grow, if they are plump they are good to go. 

They will not be true to the mother plant! You won't know what colour they are until they flower, next year. 

One of my dahlias grown from seed. So pretty! 

Dahlia seeds can be saved exactly the same way. They will also not be true to the mother plant, but are super fun to grow as you never know what you will get. 

The marigolds in my tomato bed, this summer. They were abuzz with bees! 

Marigolds - Just pop off the heads once they have dried up and pop them in a jar till late winter. It is that easy. 

I cut in/sharpened up all the borders in spring. Don't even look at how terrible the lawn looks in spring from our St Bernard. 

Cutting In Borders - If you still have energy after you have harvested your garden and your seeds, raked your leaves into the garden beds, readied the pots, tools, and supports for spring, you can also cut in your borders one last time. 

Winterise Your Greenhouse - We are still harvesting the last of the tomatoes and our peppers before the cold that is supposed to come this weekend. 

• Pull out all the plants, weed if necessary. Get rid of all plant material that may harbour bugs or diseases. 
• I like to wash it down in fall so it is ready in spring - no waiting for nice weather. With the hose, or the power washer, I hose down the outside and inside to get rid of the dust, dead bugs, and plant material. 
• Top dress the beds with compost or manure to feed the soil.
• Hang plastic or bubble wrap inside your greenhouse to help prevent heat loss, in spring. I make sure to especially do this at the front door area as the greenhouse door is a very drafty Dutch door. 

The plastic overlaps by the front door as the door is very drafty. Adding plastic or bubble wrap will make a big difference in retaining heat!  

The beds are ready for a good layer of compost for next summer. Will pull out the sunflowers once the frost kills them, but leaving them standing while they still feed the bees. 

Happy Garden Clean Up~ Tanja