Is autumn really the end of the gardening year?
“Fall is not the end of the gardening year; it is the start of next year’s growing season.”
Thalassa Cruso
Autumn in Vermont is one of my favorite times of year. The days are clear and sunny and the nights are cold! The leaves begin to change color and you know winter is just around the corner. Is it really the end of another gardening year?
My goal each year is to get all my gardens cut back and cleaned up for the winter. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it doesn’t. It all depends on how busy our fall is.
First step in preparing for the winter is to remove all the decaying plant material to our compost pile. This means the random tomatoes that have fallen to the ground, the old tomato vines and the dying flower stalks. I like to leave my raised beds free of any weeds. If I have time I like to plant a cover crop in my raised beds as well. This will add nutrients to the soil while at the same time keep the weeds at bay.
If our compost bin is full we will also top off the raised beds with some compost and dig it into the raised beds. By spring it will be well composted and the beds will be ready for the spring planting.
There are also my flowerbeds to be cut back. Cutting back my numerous hosta plants is always a chore, but I don’t want to leave decaying leaves on the beds.
Once the gardens are cut back and cleaned up we are ready for winter. Now the snows can come, my garden is wonderfully cleaned up and ready to face the winter.The way time goes by it won’t be long before the seed catalogs begin arriving in the mail. It will be time to sit by the wood stove and plan next year’s garden!
Nancy on the Home Front 
Fall is my favorite time of year. Nice that you cut back hostas and other plants in the garden before the snow comes. Like the snow image.
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Thanks JM!
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We have a raised veggie bed for the first time…I will clean it all out and wondering what you use for “cover crop”? I would like to put it all to rest for the winter but not sure just what to do….
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BJ,
Last year I planted a winter rye, this year I may try something different!
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I’ve dug my compost pit to bury all my clippings from the year, but won’t cover it to cook over the winter until all my fall clippings go on top of the older compost. I’m still harvesting here on the coast, so that probably won’t happen for a few more weeks. We rarely get snow, but when there’s more rain than sun things start to stop producing. – Margy
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Margy,
Eventually we’ll be moving to the west coast and I’ll be having a gardening season more like yours!
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I love falls, too, but not that last picture you posted. Too cold to suit me.
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Latin,
I love autumn and there are things I do enjoy about winter but the older I get the less I enjoy the snow and cold weather! 🙂
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Me too ! 🙂 …and look forward to lighting the wood burning stove ,
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Daisy,
I do enjoy sitting by the wood stove on those cold winter days!
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It is that time of the year that I have such good intentions of cleaning things out and getting it all ready for the spring. But I usually put it off so long that it is too cold and so I face another spring clearing things out that I should have don’t last fall. Maybe this year I will get busy!
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Kim,
I often have the same problem, I keep saying I should get to it before the weather gets too cold!!
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