Putting the garden to bed for the winter is mostly a matter of cleaning up and covering up. As fall progresses and temperatures drop, those plants that aren't killed outright by frost prepare for dormancy. Here are some simple guidelines:
- Clear out the blackened stems and foliage of annual flowers and vegetables to prevent the possibility of their harboring disease pathogens and insect eggs over the winter.
- Gently till the soil to expose any insects who plan to overwinter; this will reduce pest troubles in the spring and your garden site will be ready come spring!
- Once most of the garden soil is exposed, add a layer of compost, leaves, manure (if you have it), and lime (if you need it). Gently till into the soil. A fall application of 1 to 2 inches of compost or manure on top of your beds will help resupply the soil with nutrients for the next season. Many gardeners will also add an additional layer of a lighter organic material (like straw) on top to prevent nutrient leaching and keep down early spring weeds. Add whatever types of compost or manure you have access to, but make sure that the material is free of weed seeds before applying it to the garden.
- Another option is to sow cover crops such as winter rye to improve and protect the soil. This is what I did. I used cereal rye (Secale cereale), an annual grass used as a cereal grain and as a cover crop. The grass grows from fall thru the winter and into spring, shielding the soil from heavy frost heaving and erosion from melting snow while filling the soil with a rich mat of roots that will provide organic matter for future crops planted in the same spot. Around march/April the cover crop can be tilled under, cut down or folded over to kill it (this must be done before the grass goes to seed or else it will make new sprouts, a nuisance).
