In the gardening world, getting ready for fall and winter is my least favorite time of year. Thankfully, the beautiful leaves make up for some of the sadness that comes for me when another summer season is over, and I have to clean up my flower beds.

I’m sharing today a list that I use to get my gardens and shrubs ready for the fall and winter months:

1. Pull out annual plants from beds and pots. Annuals don’t last through the winter most places (I’m assuming you aren’t lucky enough to live in a warm place where some of our typical “annuals” are actually “perennials” for you.)
2. Do your research on your perennials and their need to be pruned, cut back, etc. Here are some common ones:
   • There are several different types of clematis vines. Some like pruning almost to the ground, and others like a slight trim, and still others like nothing at all.
   • BOXWOODS. People have boxwoods all over their landscaping here in the Midwest. They are super easy to maintain and require virtually no maintenance and watering. The time to trim boxwoods is in the early spring and early fall when the temperatures are routinely mid-70 highs and lows no lower than about 50 degrees.
   • Peonies. Most peonies you will want to wait until the leaves die, as that’s providing the nourishment to the plant so it will bloom in the spring. Once the leaves wilt, depending on the type of peony, you’ll cut the stems back to a couple of inches about the ground.
   • Don’t touch your hydrangeas in the fall – they should be left just as they are until the late winter, if they’re the variety that requires trimming. Again – knowing the types of plants you have is crucial!
   • Almost every other hedge – I generally assume that if I can cut my boxwoods, it’s also a good time to do other hedge pruning at the same time.
3. Clean up leaves from beds and unhook hoses from the house to prevent freezing.
4. Remove any birds nests from bird houses or elsewhere to provide the birds in the spring a new place to nest!
5. If you have concrete bird baths, the top bowl part needs to be removed or covered with a tarp and lined with old towels within the bowl to prevent water from pooling, freezing, and then cracking the concrete.
6. Get to planting fall bulbs for early spring flowers. I always plant my tulips in the October timeframe, and then they start blooming right around Easter.

Two things I like to do around this time of year to prep for the winter:

1. Clean out any bird feeders you have at least a couple of times a year. I choose to clean mine out in the spring and the fall. People often times like to feed birds during the summer, but the winter and early spring before things start blooming are the hardest time for birds to find food, and they often depend on your feeders for a source of nourishment if you’re good about keeping them filled!
2. If you live someplace that gets below freezing, invest in a heated bird bath for your backyard birds. It’s the hardest time of year for them to find water, and you’ll find your house to be super popular if you offer both food and water throughout this hard season. This heated bird bath is my favorite!