Fall Garden Cleanup – Northern Home & Garden

How to Bring Outdoor Plants Inside for Winter — Without Bringing the Bugs

Want to save a favorite outdoor plant before winter arrives? Here’s how to bring outdoor plants inside safely, check for pests, make the transition easier, and avoid bringing unwanted little hitchhikers into your home.

Every fall, there comes a point when I start looking around outside and deciding which plants I’m willing to let go…and which ones are getting rescued from the cold.

Because apparently after spending all summer growing a beautiful plant, I’m supposed to just calmly let the first hard freeze take it?

Absolutely not. 😂

How to Cut Back Perennials in Fall: What to Cut and What to Leave Standing

Wondering which perennials to cut back in fall—and which ones are better left standing? Here’s a practical guide to cleaning up daylilies, hostas, peonies, irises and more while leaving beneficial winter interest behind.

Once the first few hard frosts arrive, my perennial garden starts looking a little less like the garden I enjoyed all summer and a little more like… well, a garden that has officially given up for the year. 😂

Leaves turn yellow, stems flop over, and suddenly I’m standing outside with pruning shears wondering:

Do I cut all of this down?

How to Prepare Raised Garden Beds for Winter in a Cold Climate

Get your raised garden beds ready for a long northern winter with simple tips for fall cleanup, improving soil, protecting your beds, and making spring gardening easier.

By the end of a short northern growing season, the garden can look a little… tired.

Plants are past their prime, weeds have somehow found one last burst of energy, and after spending all summer watering, weeding, harvesting, and trying to keep everything alive, it’s tempting to simply walk away and let the snow take care of it.

And technically, the snow will cover everything eventually. 😂

But spending a little time preparing your raised beds for winter can protect your soil, make spring cleanup easier, and give next year’s garden a much better start.

How to Prepare Your Perennial Garden for Winter in a Cold Climate

Learn how to prepare your perennial garden for a long northern winter with simple tips for fall cleanup, watering, mulching, dividing plants, and protecting your garden until spring.

By late fall, a northern perennial garden can look a little alarming.

The flowers are gone. Leaves are turning brown. Plants that were enormous a few weeks ago are suddenly collapsing onto the ground.

After spending all summer taking care of them, it’s easy to look at the garden and think:

Well. That doesn’t look promising.

First Frost Garden Checklist: What to Do Before the Temperature Drops

First frost can arrive quickly in a northern garden. This practical checklist covers what to harvest, what to protect, what can handle the cold, and the simple fall garden tasks to tackle before temperatures drop.

There comes a point every northern summer when we all start doing the same thing.

Checking the nighttime forecast.

Every. Single. Day.

At first, the lows are comfortably above freezing.

Then you see 40°F.

Then 37°F.

Then one evening you check again and there it is:

32°F.

And suddenly you’re standing in the garden wondering whether you need to harvest everything you own before bedtime. 😂

The first frost doesn’t necessarily mean gardening season is completely over, but it does mean it’s time to make a few decisions.

Here’s a simple first-frost checklist to help you figure out what needs attention—and what can stay right where it is.