I would like to get my vegetable garden and annual flower beds ready for planting without having to do a lot of preparation next spring. What are some things I could be doing right now?
The easiest approach would be to clear the old plants off and dispose of them. However, I can’t bear to dispose of all that good organic matter that could be used to improve the soil. So I run a rotary lawn mower over leftover plants a couple of times to chop them up into fine pieces. Then I rake the material so it is uniformly distributed. I also add some compost I have accumulated from grass clippings. I rake or blow leaves onto the lawn and run a lawn mower over them before adding them to the beds. I have even added leftover bark dust that I had obtained for mulching. I scatter everything over the soil before tilling. I also like to add lime so it gets tilled into the soil. Remember, the more organic matter you add to your soil, the better your plants will grow.
After colder temperature has stopped the growth of perennial flowers I cut them back to about an inch or two above the ground. The tops get added to the compost pile. There are a few perennial flowers whose tops do not die so they do not get pruned. These include gold alyssum, candytuft, moss phlox, lamium and rock cress.
I have a tendency to plant perennial flowers that have marginal hardiness. I cover them with floating row covers that I use to protect vegetables in the spring. I have also used heavier insulating white row covers. The white color reflects the winter sun. It is the big variation in temperature from day to day or day to night that is the most damaging.
