Winterize The Landscape Now For Added Beauty Next Season

Featured in this Show

• Why It Pays To Keep Some Garden Plants Out During Winter Months

  Download

  Melinda Myers says that this weekend, she’s rolling up her sleeves and taking care of business in her garden.

  “This weekend is the one I’m just going to say, ‘OK, they’re going in the compost bin, the pots are getting stored.’ It’s time to cleanup,” said the Milwaukee-based garden expert and the author of more than 20 books.

  Myers said she has plenty left to do. However, she also said it helps that some garden cleanup can be left for spring. In fact, according to Myers, there are advantages to leaving certain plants in the ground through winter.

  Take healthy perennials: According to Myers, they can handily withstand the colder temperatures, and in fact, leaving them out in such conditions can actually make them more hardy.

  Self-seeding annuals — plants that basically scatter their own seeds on the ground — are also good candidates for keeping out during the winter months. They support wildlife, like certain birds, and can help boost plant growth next season with the seeds they sow.

  Leftover plants can additionally serve as overwintering homes for many butterflies and beneficial insects.

  Of course, there are still many plants that shouldn’t to be left out for the winter, especially the insect-infested and diseased ones. Myers recommended cutting back and properly disposing of those plants.

  “I had a lot of blight on my tomatoes like most people and some squash vine borer — that’s getting out,” Myers said.

  The bottom line for Myers: Don’t give up on gardening just yet. There’s ample time to work on your fall “to-do” list, as time and temperatures allow.