I'm sure you've heard the old expressions "Neatness counts" and "A job worth doing is worth doing well."
When it comes to preparing your garden for winter, you can't be too neat or too thorough. Neatness DOES count when it comes to maintaining the health of your landscape.
Keep your lawn mowed for as long into the fall as it continues growing. The last mowing should be very close to the ground. Rake up all lawn clippings along with any fallen leaves which could compact over the winter and contribute to lawn decay from diseases. If the grass if left too long, and/or debris is not raked up, the compaction that occurs creates very moist conditions that invite fungus problems and brown patches in spring.
Apply a high quality 10-5-20 fall lawn fertilizer any time up until mid-November. If weeds are a problem, use fall lawn food 10-5-20 plus weeder.
Clean up all garden beds, throwing spent annuals into your composter if you have one. Turn the soil to aerate it and reduce compaction.
The soil around all evergreens, broadleafed and needle varieties should be watered deeply before the ground freezes over. Since evergreens retain their leaves and needles all winter long, these trees and shrubs need an extra store of moisture to protect them against dessication, or drying out, in the winter sun and wind.
Yews and Dwarf White Spruce are particularly tender and should be wrapped in burlap, top to bottom from late fall to early spring.
Upright growing Junipers such as Skyrocket, Mountbatten and Witchita Blue varieties should be encased in vexar mesh. This will hold the branches firmly in place against the main trunk so that snow cannot accumulate on and mis-shape the branches.
For all evergreens, including broadleafed varieties like Euonymus, try something new this winter. Spray with WiltPruf, an anti-dessicant that nursery growers have been using for over thirty years with great results. It is now available at the consumer level from your local plant nursery garden center.
