Begin preparing tools for storage by cleaning them once you’re finished with them.
Gardening Tasks by Month for Birmingham, MI
Gardening Tips
Birmingham, MI
Prune & Maintain
General Garden
Remember to edge your garden borders if you have not already done so.
Leave seed heads on asters, sunflowers, and cosmos for birds to eat over the winter.
Cut perennials 3 to 4 inches from the ground once the flower stalks have died and turned brown.
Harvest brussels sprouts when ready to eat; they’ll sweeten through the cold snaps.
Did you test your soil? If you need to raise or lower the pH of your soil, add the required amendments, such as sulfur or lime, this fall because they take some time to work.
Plant snowdrop, hyacinth, and star of Bethlehem bulbs.
Hardy lily bulbs may be planted in the ground and left to overwinter outdoors.
Plant & Sow
Flowers
Correct any soil deficiencies you’ve noticed. Healthy soil is crucial to healthy plants.
Water & Feed
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs, General Garden
Plant spring bulbs as long as the ground is workable. Plant the following bulbs soon: trout lily, tulip, narcissus (including daffodil), snowdrop, winter aconite, starflower, and crown imperial. For crown imperial, add a little lime to the soil.
Plant & Sow
Flowers
As you empty annual beds, clean out all dead plants. A clean garden will have fewer diseases next spring. Add manure, compost, and leaves to provide it with more organic matter.
Prune & Maintain
Flowers, Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
Place chicken wire on the ground over newly planted bulbs to deter animals from digging.
Pests, Diseases & Weeds
Flowers
Be sure to remove any leaves from your lawn to help reduce lawn problems; use as mulch for plants; shred leaves and add to compost.
Prune & Maintain
Lawn, General Garden
Plant garlic now for harvesting next summer.
Plant & Sow
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
Brush your root crops clean of any soil and store in a cool, dark place. Never refrigerate potatoes and apples together; the apples give off ethylene gas, which will spoil the potatoes. Clipping the tops of parsnips, carrots, beets, and turnips will keep them fresher longer.
Harvest
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
Pot up some parsley plants and place them in a well-lit cellar or shed.
Prune & Maintain
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
If your peony isn’t blooming, or it is too large or misplaced, consider moving it now.
Prune & Maintain
Flowers
Dig up and store dahlias, gladioli, and other tender plants after the foliage is killed by a frost. Store over the winter.
Prune & Maintain
Flowers
Plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs such as tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth bulbs and crocus corms. Don’t be too quick to cover them with mulch or it may attract animals. Wait until the ground freezes.
Plant & Sow
Flowers
Do not prune spring-flowering shrubs.
Prune & Maintain
Trees & Shrubs
Look for slug egg masses under mulch and destroy.
Pests, Diseases & Weeds
Flowers, Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
Paint any garden structures that need it. Repair garden fences.
Prune & Maintain
General Garden
Harvest any remaining vegetables sensitive to frost, including winter squash, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes.
Harvest
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
Clean up your lawn and garden. Remove any dead or diseased plants, leaves, and twigs; a clean garden means fewer diseases next spring.
Pests, Diseases & Weeds
Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs, Lawn, General Garden
