Garden club starts thinking about fall cleanup

Community

August 16, 2019 - 3:58 PM

Dorothy McGhee discussed fall garden cleanup practices at Wednesday’s Dirt Diggers Garden Club.

Gardeners are faced with several choices in the fall, she noted.

Is it better to rake up all of your leaves and cut back all of your perennials, she asked. Or should other measures be followed?

The first choice is to whether a gardener should simply step back and let the plants “put themselves to bed,” she noted.

The answer lies in whether one wants a habitat for wildlife, or a tidier appearance.

There is no one right way to do it, McGhee said.

Those who prefer the tidier method should rake leaves and debris, such as dead annuals and vegetables, while cutting back all perennials to the crown. Perennials with diseased stems may need to be dug up entirely, she warned.

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