Last updated on November 14th, 2013
HOW’S YOUR AUTUMN CLEAN-UP COMING ALONG? Do you still have leaves to rake, annuals to pull, and perennials to cut back? As you will see on this brief garden tour, I have quite a few chores to accomplish before the snow falls:
I’ve hired a crew to gather and shred the 15 million leaves that blanket my property. (I save my leaves, and use them for mulch.) But the work can’t begin until a couple of poky trees decide to cooperate:
Poky tree #1: The silver-leaved maple at the northern end of my Rose Garden. I don’t know why this variety is so unwilling to part with its faded foliage. Its sugar-sap kin dropped their leaves weeks ago.
Poky tree #2: The massive beech in the front yard. Some years, this tree waits for the first heavy snow to drop its colorful load. And then it’s too late for clean-up.
Mercifully, there’s nothing to do in the rose garden until the ground freezes solidly. Then I’ll mulch the roses with mountains of shredded leaves.
Are you listening, Mr. Silver Leaf and Ms. Beech?
On the north side of my potting shed, some faded lilies need cutting-back.
Hold on a moment while I grab my pruners…
Meanwhile, at the base of the Serpentine Garden, we spy a hydrangea in need of dead-heading, if not pruning.
What’s that you say?
You’d like to tackle this job?
On the top terrace of the Serpentine Garden, a Penstemon demands attention. Do you know this perennial? Just now, masking its purple-hued foliage that stays fresh through the winter, are tall, ugly, long-faded flowering stalks. Thirty seconds with pruning shears will restore its handsome looks.
Close by is a Sarah Bernhardt peony, a thing of great beauty in warm weather, and an eye-store in cold. Let’s cut her tired locks back to the ground.
We can leave Sarah’s ring-support in place. She’ll want it when spring arrives.
We are standing at the entrance to the Kitchen Garden now. The green plants on the far left are Brussels sprouts.
As you can see, the sprouts have grown quite a bit since our last tour. We could harvest them now, or let them sweeten up after a few more frosts. I say…”wait.”
A hard frost hit last weekend, killing off the enormous heirloom zinnias that dwell in the garden’s four central beds. These will not be easy to remove, as big zinnias have big roots.
But with your help, I think we can manage the job in no time at all.
Did I hear you groan? I don’t blame you. Zinnias loathe to be pulled, even when they are dead.
I’m sorry you sprained your back. But the garden looks much better now, minus the dearly departed.
And check out the soil! It’s incredibly rich, loose, and moisture-retentive, because I keep it covered with shredded leaves. And if not leaves, then chopped straw.
Speaking of leaves — the Woodland Garden is filled with them. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to pick up a rake. The leaves will be gathered and shredded by the lawn-crew. Eventually.
Just for fun, let’s look at the Hudson River tributary that runs behind the Woodland. This body of water is home to fish, ducks, geese, and one magnificent, but camera-shy, blue heron.
We can head back to the house now, where a drinky-poo awaits.
How does a martini sound to you? I’ll make it with Beefeater gin and just a splash of dry French vermouth. Just let me know how many olives you prefer.
I believe that Beefeater was The Queen Mother’s favorite gin. I attended her 99th birthday outside Clarence House in London (really, I did). She lived, as I recall, to 102.
So don’t complain about the brand of gin I’m serving you.
As we sip our martinis (which in short order we shall pronounce “martoonies”), I hope you’ll tell me about the autumn clean-up chores that await you in your own garden.
Don’t miss anything at A Garden for the House…sign up for Kevin’s weekly newsletter!
And if you’d like to see the gardens here in their spring and summer attire, be sure to check out these posts:
A Garden Tour in Mid-April
A Late-April Garden Tour
My Garden in Mid-May
badger gardener says
I love your view of the river tributary. Glad you held off on the cocktail until after you went out with the pruners.
Our trees here are also taking their time dropping their leaves. We had 1/2 inch of snow yesterday so it put an end to my herbs and greens. I had a hot pepper plant of Siberian heritage in a container that I was putting in the garage at night and I finally picked the last and said my goodbyes. The outdoor growing season is now officially over for me. Now to deal w/ those leaves…
Stella Clark says
Even the bare trees have a charm of their own. Thank you for the tour. Lovely.
Nancy says
What brand of pruners do you recommend?
Christine F says
Someone told me that I should prune my Hydrangea right to the ground. I’ve never done it and I noticed you didn’t either. Have you ever?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Badger – Oy! The worst is when we get a foot of snow before all the leaves are fallen. Then we have to wait until spring to do a proper clean up.
Stella – I agree with you about bare trees. They make lovely silhouettes against the snow.
Hi Nancy – I didn’t use them on our little garden tour, but Felco pruners are the absolute best. Not cheap, but with care they last forever.
Christine F – It all depends upon the type of hydrangea you have. This useful article explains the different varieties and their pruning requirements: http://tiny.cc/7qlg6w
Geraldine Baldwin says
I’m wondering about leaving seeded things (dry beans, peppers, calendula flowers, etc) in the garden so that they will sprout next year. Maybe take the stems, leaves & roots and leave the seeds and see what comes up?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Geraldine – If dry beans, peppers, etc. are known to reseed in your climate, then yes, you can leave the plants in place, and let them drop their seeds. Or, for the sake of tidiness, you can lift the dead plants, and simply shake their seedpods onto the ground.
Heidi Haas says
Thank you – I needed a nice relaxing tour. Love the river view. I also have 1 annoying tree that will not drop. Of course, it is smack dab where once the leaves fall something MUST be done…. (driveway is there AND Chewbacca’s favorite path…) I want a crew too!
PattyM says
3 olives please and thank you !!! xoxo
Theresa says
Not complaining, just noting that Bombay Sapphire is my gin of choice. And it comes in a pretty blue bottle. Thanks for the tour!
Cary Bradley says
How did I miss you Oct 20 garden tour post? It answers all the questions I’ve had and more! In this current post you mention how your Brussels sprouts have plumped since last tour and I went hunting for the comparison picture/description. Thanks so much for the Oct 20 tour and for this one. Our zones are almost exactly the same and being a transplanted New Englander (from sunny California), my knowledge of time is paltry. You are my guru, dear boy. As of now, leaves mowed and piled, waiting to be laid on veg garden beds. (Garlic hoping to be planted this weekend if freeze stays at bay.) Brussels still plumping, 3 kinds of kale still outside (one with the great nerve to have worms! I relented and sprayed brassicas with spinosad alternating with BT this year for first time in years and love no holes, but hate the stuff. Much in veg garden has been cleaned up, but boysenberry vines still need attention, bean poles, cuke trellis. Haven’t yet harvested parsley, sage, rosemary ;), and hope they still live after the flurries we had today. Where is that staff? Thanks again for the terrific tour/tutorial! Oh, and Beefeater’s sounds just fine, thanks. I’ll bring the hors d’oeurves.. 🙂
yvonne moram says
hi Kevin,i look forward to your ideas, but looking at November 12th issue regarding cutting back dead flowers and so forth,i refer to the Hydrangea’s, in England we cut the dead heads off in early Spring,the theory is the dead heads protect the new shoots from frost.
Yvonne x
Carol Cerros says
Beautiful tour, especially of the river. You are very lucky to have such an awesome property, but I’m sure anywhere you lived, the home and yard would be beautiful.
I was wondering if you recommend any good garden books to read over the winter months. I’m actually working on planning my front yard to get through the winter blues, and need some great landscaping ideas, but without the everyone has plants. Living in zone 5 and having good protection in the front, I’m hoping for some unusual but fun plants to have in the spring.
Christine F says
Thank you for the article! Answered the question! (friendly advice from others was wrong! lol)
Annie B says
Such a pretty place! Can I have another martooni? No olives please. Thanks for the tour.
Holly says
I live in the same zone but in Ohio. We have some trees with green leaves still… had a few inches of snow this week. Now it’s supposed to be 60 this weekend. For the most part I have done all the fall prep I can. Have to prune back my mums and continue cleaning up leaves… when there isn’t snow!
Melissa Horton says
Autumn tour and Martoonies…how about a cracking fire? Thanks Kevin!
Nancy says
One of the most practical posts ever! Thank you. And I especially appreciate the link to the hydrangea pruning because I never know when to prune and/or deadhead (all macros). I actually like the way some of the spent blooms look well into winter but don’t like to leave them for spring because I have so many of them and there is so much to do in the spring.
I am very torn now about leaving leaves in my beds. I have done it for years but increasingly I am having more and more problems with mildew and black spot on roses, clematis, phlox and botrytis on peonies and dahlias and I am wondering if I need to clean up down to bare soil in those areas and if so how clean and how far away from the plants do I need to clean?
And then can I reapply mulch next spring or does the need to be kept clean year round?
Karen Burks says
I have six acres of leaves most are Maples, Tulip Poplars and Pecan. I need to prune Solomon Seal, Lilies, Sedum, Hostas and Iris. I have a question. I planted many Sedum from clipping this summer and they are about 6-8 inches tall. Should I trim them back like I do the larger, older Seum or should I leave them until Spring. I live in NW Arkansas Zone 6.
Thanks,
Karen
Margaret Lauterbach says
Don’t pull dead annuals, cut them off an inch or two above soil line. Over winter the roots will decay, adding organic matter to soil, and in spring, what’s left is easily pulled out without disruption to soil fungi, bacteria, etc. (the soil foodweb)
Marjie T. says
I am wondering why you rake up your leaves instead of leaving then on the ground – in the woods they add to the natural humus and enrich the soil. On the lawn they can be mowed over and mulched right in place. I leave the leaves down in both the woods and on the lawn and in spring they are pretty much gone.
Even though we have a woods and lots of native trees in the landscape, I still call the town to deliver a truckload of leaves that I use for mulch for the gardens and let the rest go to compost. (happy that villagers still rake so I can have even more leaves here.) I plant my squash and pumpkins in the remaining pile in spring. I am in zone 5b on the Lake Michigan shoreline in WI.
Enjoying your page as always. Thank you for doing this:)
Sherlie Magaret says
I think we are pretty much ready for winter, we don’t do much leaf raking but around the house and garage and driveway, mostly we wait for the wind. Last Monday we had a hard freeze of 10 degrees and the next day, poof, all the leaves had fallen. We can see the horizon again. We did find a new place to plant the potted mums along the driveway. If they survive and come back, they will be really pretty next fall in the rock bank. The garden spots are ready for their snow blanket although I could put more leaves on them. LOL, we had our first annual pumpkin roll. I carried the two pumpkins out to the outbuilding that I begged for and promised to take care of them before they got all icky on the front porch. Set them on the edge of the barn pad which is on a hill and of course my other half didn’t wait for me to count and say go, he just pushed his. I had to give mine a rolling push and low and behold mine caught up with his and his had slowed so mine being right behind his, gave him a push and then they separated and stopped further down the hill. And we TIED!!!!! They didn’t make it all the way to the forest edge, so he went down and flung them into the forest and they made a satisfying pop when they exploded. I hope the deer and critters enjoy them. Dare I say, I may get two more next year. A good time was had by all even the dog who politely watched with interest at the top of the hill.
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I cant wait to plant next spring and I am going to do your trellis thing and not the one with the strings. I am hoping for a good crop that way. I have so much trouble with green beans and I love them.
Jo-Anne says
Good morning…Kevin…my plan today is to clean up the acreage…….all by myself….my husband got shot in the knee with a nail gun….(the GOOD news…no tendon nor joint was harmed…the 2 ” nail went cleanly into the bone…fingers crossed all will be well in 6 weeks!)..sure glad I have 4 Border Collies to help me and a ride on lawn mower…AND a Martoonie to look forward to afterward……thanks for helping me with my list….The sun is now shining …I am on my way….
Carla says
Love your gardens and all of the info! Do you cut Huchera back in the fall? I usually leave them and they seem to be ready to go in the spring.
Polly C says
Just got around to reading this post. You are my vicarious gardener, since I moved from a house with 2 interesting acres to an apartment with a deck. This is a perfect arrangement, because I was an imperfect gardener (some might say a total loser) — while you are perfection itself.
(I used to say the 4 seasons were (starting with fall): Raking, shoveling, mud (with an extra serving of raking), and mowing. Thank you for your perspective.
Verrrrry happy that you make your martinis with gin. A vodka martini is pointless. Three olives please — or good onions to switch to a Gibson.
Helga G says
Always enjoy your garden tours. But I’ll pass on the Martini. Would take you up on a cup of herbal tee and one of your perfect Popovers. I have about 10 full sized oaks in my yard, so I’ll get plenty of exercise in the fall raking. Still deciding, if I keep my Bamboo Trellis up or not. Supported plenty of Tomatoes, Malabar Spinach and a few Mexican Sour Gherkins, which my Grandkids call Miniature Watermelons. Two of them “swear” they taste like Watermelon too.
I am glad that Snow from Monday did not stick around. “It’s outta here” Need a few more nice days to finish my garden chores.
Lori says
Even with the shroud of leaves your gardens are wonderful. I love the falling leaves. Some people see a painful and never-ending chore. I see a mountain of free mulch. We haven’t a single tree on our property, but the neighbors have several silver maples that drop loads of crumbly leaves every fall that turn into crumbly soil in my garden beds. Today I raked and shredded my third batch of leaves and just now had to start bagging them for use next year. And we still have bunches of oak trees holding fast to their leaves. And my apple sapling has maybe 50 leaves it is keeping hold of for now.
Just today I cleared out my asparagus bed of dried ferns a mulched deeply with leaves. I still have my perennial bed in the front garden to clean up. I’m waiting for my asters to finish flowering although they are looking very sad indeed due to the hard frost we got a few nights ago. I may yet go out this afternoon and give it a trimming.
Or maybe not today. I just looked out the window and it looks like Mother Nature is blowing in another batch of leaves for me to rake. Maybe I’ll worry about it tomorrow.
Lee McCann says
You improve my aspirations for spring and martinis. I keep all of your newsletters and refer
to them often. Happy Thanksgiving to you both. Lee (Ms)
Henrietta says
Most of the flowers beds are readied for winter and the vegetable garden is prepared The strawberries and raspberries still need to be covered by mulch.The pine needles have been swept off the roof and and gathered into bags. I put some of the pine needles around blueberry plants. I bought a zone 6 lavender plant at a great clearance price 25 cents and going to try and keep it over winter by mulching it. It is in a protected area I live in zone 5
Shannon says
We also have one of those annoying beech trees. We live in Georgia and that tree hangs onto its leaves sometimes almost until spring!
Marlyn says
All my garden beds are ready for winter. I made two lasagna beds out of two of my raised vegie beds. We’ll have to wait and see how they turn out in the spring. I probably have one more round of mowing/bagging leaves to put on the compost pile. Thankfully my neighbors on both sides dealt with their share of leaves on their lawns this last week. The previous two years, I just mulched my leaves into the grass. I decided I wanted to add leaves to the compost pile and make a pile for leaf mold as well, so I’ve been bagging my mowed leaves this year. I’ve one more suet feeder to hang in a tree and I’m pretty much set for winter.
Sheryl Graves says
Thanks to my finding your website about a week ago, I was able to gather many leaves from my neighbor and use them to: ammend my existing raised beds, build at least one new lasagna bed, and mulch some of my perennials. Very luckily, one of my new neighbors has no space to garden, so I allowed him space in one of my raised beds for garlic. In return, he did an amazing job of cleaning up all my veggie beds (leaving kale, collards, beets and carrots…for now). I am so excited for the winter mini-container/milk bottle “green houses”!
Thanks for such great info and pictures! (Oh, and if I were there, I’d say 3 olives…but,since I’m in Vermont, I may end my weekend with a maple Manhattan!)
Dick Chenoweth says
Don’t dead-head those Hydrangeas …spray paint them! A sheet of newsprint torn half way through makes a quick shield (around the stem) so you don’t get paint on the leaves or stems. then expect comments from neighbors like “what variety of Hyd. blooms silver and gold @ Christmas?”
betty troutman says
kevin–its always a pleasure to hear from you…b
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
This freakishly warm day pulled me out into the garden from morning till dusk, IN THE ZONE, losing track of all time. I dug up two beds of Cannas, culled the black, rotting pieces and rinsed the rest for storage. I patched low spots in the lawn with buckets of clay soil from a friend. I covered bare spots in the vegetable beds with shredded leaves. I raked AGAIN, a never-ending job this month. I stashed 8 kinds of Dahlia tubers after drying them for about a week, labeling carefully, enclosing in mesh onion bags, layering with potting soil in a box, enjoying the open garage door and warm temperatures. Fallen, brown branches off the Cryptomeria were collected for later chipping – makes a really lovely mulch, uniform in size and attractive in texture and color. I potted up rooted cuttings for Pineapple Sage and Black Elephant Ears. I dumped two big pots of spent lettuces, salvaging the soil, the screening and the bag of styrofoam peanuts in the base. I mixed up a big bucket of sandy soil (reclaiming some from the lettuce pots) which will be put to use next spring for Sempervivums in strawberry jars. I planted a pot of Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia) and 2 pots of Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ which have been patiently waiting to go into the ground. I cut back my Honeysuckle Fuchsia to winter over in the garage. Dry, splitting pods from the Monarch’s favorite orange Butterflyweed were collected to distribute near the neighborhood retaining pods where it’s never mowed. I buried a bag of kitchen waste in the compost bins. I picked a white and an orange carrot from the raised beds to use in the dinner salads.
There is a long list of things I could not get to, still !
Thanks for your inspiration, Kevin. I wonder if you saved the lily seed heads after pruning the stalks off. I think it’s 3 years+ from seed to bloom if those seeds are planted, but they might not match the parent plant. Your beech tree photo is beautiful, the hanging leaves notwithstanding.
Nancy says
Kevin – what is the ground cover growing on the north side of you shed?
Nancy says
I’m looking for a ground cover for a small section of garden in the front of my house. I’m in zone 7 and there is sun/shade in that area. Thanks for your help.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Nancy – The groundcover next to the shed (and also on the middle terrace of the Serpentine Garden), is Vinca minor. In spring, it covers itself with tiny flowers of periwinkle blue. Hence the plant’s common name: “Periwinkle.” I love it!
Bett says
Inspiring, as usual. Love you dearly.
Marcia Leitschuh says
Today I finished the outdoor gardening for the year – 2 days ago the ground was frozen so I had to wait for a couple days and nights above freezing to dig. I actually hired two great men to spread manure and spade it into the vegetable garden and rake it smooth. This gave me time to deadhead the flower gardens. I leave some seed heads to decorate the landscape in case we are lacking in snow.
I still have garbage bags of kale to freeze up and rutabagas and parsnips that are patiently waiting on my front porch until I find room in the refrigerator.
I washed one more window at dusk and then put a new strip of weather seal on my back door.
Ready for winter – at least on the outside.
Marcia Leitschuh says
Is periwinkle hardy in zone 4? And does it mind some shade?
Susan L. Espersen says
Such fun to go along with you on your clean up tour! You always provide such a good time, and refreshing drinks, to those of us who come along! Unless someone can tell me how to get my very expensive leaf sucker, chipper, blower to suck up the neighbor’s leaves (8-10 inches in diameter) without them getting clogged, I don’t think that I will be shredding them this year! I desperately NEED them in my new garden (clay, Clay, CLAY), but I can’t even get the tiller to mix them in whole. It just sits and spins or scoots right over the surface, with me in tow! Alas, I am beaten by those leaves, again. However, I am making good progress on the rest of the yard. One question though. I am moving to this home in a couple weeks (Do you hear wedding bells?) and have only NOW to move my perennials from my previous yard. I also have a few things that just arrived in the mail from the nursery! My small lilacs, hostas, rhubarb, 6 very small climbing roses (that just were planted this past summer), etc. all need to come with me. Do I leave the items in pots…in their pots, or quickly plant in the yard (protected ‘temporary’ area with lots of mulch)? Should I leave them in the garage or take them into the slightly warmed basement and water? I also saved some annuals (petunias, as you suggested) and wonder if they should go under the grow light in the basement or just hang out where they will get some natural light through the windows? Yes, I want them for next year, but mostly, I can’t stand to be without something growing in my laundry area! Good luck to all getting your late fall chores in order, and Kevin, I look forward to seeing your beautiful gardens peacefully asleep this winter!
Michelle says
What is the best method for shredding leaves to use as mulch? I hear that you can now over them, but wouldn’t they be a bear to collect afterwards to put where you want them?
Michelle says
I meant “mow” over them 🙂
Karen says
Kevin, what would I do w/o you? Thanks for the tour and letting me know what to do for my garden. Cheers!
Karen Wright says
Hi Kevin, I just dug up my Dahlias and planted lots of bulbs. Crocus, daffodils, tulips, Lillies, Japanese and German Iris. I moved some bueberry bushes to a more auspicious location and cut down spent raspberry canes. Thanks for reminding me to deadhead the hydrangea and cut back Sarah Bernhardt! And Thanks for the delicious Martoonie! Karen W
Pam says
When the State of Maine widened our road decades ago, they got rid of all the diseased elm trees that had lined it and put in silver-leaf maples. The two in front of our house are actually beautiful trees, but they leaf late in the spring and seem to hang on interminably in the fall. Still waiting for the last of the leaves to come down. And my gingko so obediently lost every leaf in one night. Love that tree.
Tami says
I just want to say that getting these emails from you is filling a need in me of having a good friend and buddy that shares my interests and want to say thank you:) I really enjoy our friendship! And now I don’t feel so bad that my hydrangea looks like that I now know it’s normal. I worried it was dead!
Linda Gattiker says
I just love your website! Hope you and yours have a Blessed, Happy Thanksgiving.
Melanie Sharp says
Love your garden! This year’s my laziest in the garden I didn’t have much time for it and it grew wild a lot. I even left the leaves on the lawn, because I read somewhere this is good for it. The only plants I’ve ‘seriously’ taken care this year are few houseplants and all I did was bringing them outside for the summer, watering them from time to time and bringing them in few days ago. Greets!