Get Your Garden On

Summer’s end doesn’t mean you have to give up your fruit and vegetable garden for the fall. The cooler weather is ideal to spend time outside and what better project to work on than prepping for next year’s crops? If your green thumb didn’t exactly blossom this year, follow along with these steps to maximize your garden’s potential:

1. Time to Clean
The first step is to clean out your garden. Take time to pull up any weeds before they begin to seed and remove any plants that look dead as they’ll only attract pests. Be sure to throw away any fallen fruit before it starts rotting.

2. Mix Things Up
Your old soil and mulch is still good, but move the mulch aside to add rich compost to the soil mix to create a very veggie-friendly environment for spring. Add the existing mulch, along with a little bit of new, back on top of the freshened up soil.

3. Prep for Winter
If you’re in an area that freezes, now is the time to set up a frost protection device, such as a cold frame or hoop cover. No need to place the actual covers on yet, but putting these protective measures in place now ensures there immediate availability when needed.

In warmer climates, fall is also the ideal time to buy and plant new trees, shrubs or perennials. Take advantage of great end-of-season sales on plants and all gardening tools, too.