Autumn Garden Chores

Autumn Garden Chores

Dig beets, carrots, and turnips as needed, but leave parsnips and sweet potatoes until a couple of frosts have sweetened them.

Store pumpkins and winter squashes in a dry place at about 50 degrees F.

Divide rhubarb. Include a bud with each section and plant in good rich soil with a generous dressing of manure.

Divide perennials to invigorate the plants.

Work a trowelful of bonemeal into the soil around older rosebushes; then hill up more soil around the base.

Prune grapevines.

Reseed lawns or transplant sod.

It’s never too late to apply lime to your lawn, as long as snow doesn’t stop you from pushing the spreader. The minerals in lime retain their value until the grass is ready to grow again.

Give the compost pile a good turning before winter sets in.

Cut out spent raspberry canes and discard. Add a deep mulch of leaves or sawdust to the new canes to keep down the weeds in the spring and retain moisture in the soil.

Give all trees and shrubs plenty of water before the ground freezes.

Check trees around your house for weak branches that should be removed by you now, rather than by snow and ice.

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