As the growing season comes to an end, it is helpful to clean your garden before putting it to bed for the winter. A good fall cleanup provides multiple benefits for gardeners – it reduces weed populations and disease, minimizes plant insect pests, prevents rodent infestation, and eases the workload for next year’s spring planting.
Harvest everything
Before pulling out plants, harvest leftover fruits and pods on your tomato, pepper, and bean plants.
- Store only the mature fruits and discard any immature, rotten fruits in your compost pile.
- Late blight-infected tomato fruits and potato tubers should be thrown away in the trash.
Wait for a sunny day
Clean your garden on dry, sunny days in the late morning or afternoon. While this is not always possible, it does make for a healthier garden.
- Pulling plants on rainy days or in the early morning can spread disease spores in your garden.
- Walking on wet soil can ruin your garden soil structure.
Remove supports
- Pull out garden labels, stakes, cages, and trellises from the garden beds.
- Remove dirt and debris from those materials and, if needed, rinse them with water.
- Remove inorganic mulch materials like black plastic film from the bed. They don’t decompose and can potentially harbor insect pests.
Remove entire plants
- Make sure to pull all of the main roots and dispose of fallen leaves from the ground.
- Use a pruner to cut and remove the stalks of large plants.
- Most fungal pathogens overwinter in plant debris, so it is best to bag and throw away severely infested tomato, potato, and pumpkin plant materials.
- The rest of the garden plants can be piled for composting.
Separate cold and hot compost items
- Do not add seed heads of annual weeds and rhizomes from perennial weeds to the cold compost pile. Bag and place these items in the trash.
- Any other vegetative matter from the weeds can be added into a hot compost pile where the core pile temperature reaches 120-170°F to kill weeds, insect eggs, and pathogens.
Rake garden beds
- Remove any final plant debris and stones and level the garden soil.
- Spread shredded fallen tree leaves evenly in your garden beds and till it to a shallow depth.
- Don’t add lime or wood ash to your garden beds.
Test your soil
If you have not done a soil test before or in the last five years, it is time to collect some soil samples from your garden beds and get them tested at the UMN Soil Lab. The soil test report will provide recommendations on improving your garden soil based on your test results.
Be kind to your gardening tools
Properly cleaned and stored garden tools can help prevent the spread of diseases, weed seeds, insect and earthworm eggs, and prolong the shelf life of the equipment.
- Clean your garden shovels and hoes under running water and use a clean cloth to wipe the moisture and remaining dirt.
- Use coarse-grade steel wool to remove rusty edges and wipe the tools with 70% rubbing alcohol disinfectant.
- Spray the metallic tools with WD-40 to prevent rust, and store the tools in a dry shed.
Extension's planting and growing guides have useful information to keep your garden healthy all year long.