Closing Your Garden
Here are some tasks to do in the garden during fall:
- Plant garlic cloves and flower bulbs (tulips, crocuses, etc.) between mid-September and the end of October.
- If you want to keep some plants indoors during winter (herbs, tropical plants, aloe), take them in before the temperature drops too much, to avoid thermal shock.
- Raze herbaceous perennials near the ground and use and insulating membrane around your small trees and shrubs. Perennial plants should ideally be covered with a good layer of snow. Failing this (e.g. on a balcony), a membrane is used and attempts are made to protect the plants from the wind as much as possible by placing them near a wall. If they are in Smart Pots, putting this pot in a larger pot with soil all around will also help protect the roots from freezing.
- Compost your annual plants at the end of the season, unless they had diseases.
- Use some mulch (straw, dead leaves, etc.) to protect your soil. Mulch is especially important over garlic cloves and flower bulbs, and at the foot of perennials.
- Stop your irrigation before the first frost to avoid damaging your system. However, it is important to ensure that the soil where your perennials are planted is not too dry, as long as the soil is not frozen.
- Store your clay or plastic pots. Smart Pots can be left outdoors all winter without any problem.
