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Putting the Garden to Bed and Bringing the Harvest Indoors

When you were a kid, didn’t you love collecting buckeyes or acorns in the fall? Master Gardener Carrie Petty certainly did. She says she still even makes whistles out of the acorn caps. A kid at heart, for sure!

Fall is a magical season as a Hoosier! This is also the season when we prepare the outdoors for a long winter’s nap. Carrie shares THREE great rules of thumb when “Putting the Garden to Bed.”

  1. If it’s brown, cut it down. If the flower’s stems are brown and the green is gone, pull it out of the garden and either compost the plant material or toss it.
  2. A little poo will do! Add a good compost to the garden and turn it under with a pitch fork. Letting it rest for the winter will help the soil perk up quickly in the Spring.
  3. Mulch it over and ‘leaf’ it alone. I used crushed leaves over my newly amended garden bed to mulch it over for the winter. It helps protect tender roots of perennial flowers from damaging cold, snow and ice. These easy steps will preserve your hard work through the winter months and give you a jump start on the Spring planting season. Don’t forget to bring the nature indoors this time of year. Collect acorns to place in a glass container around a candle, or use dried herbs in floral arrangements for dinner parties. I use mini pumpkins often in my centerpieces, but a good tip is to first spray them with a little furniture polish to give them a shine. It helps to keep pest and rot away too! This will be the month to collect falls final harvest of veggies and herbs, prep the garden for rest and enjoy time with family and friends around a cozy fire pit with some good Merlot.

So many good things to gain from the garden this month and you can find it all in my ‘Fall

Gardening Check List’ here on www.CarriePetty.com

All to help you “Grow a Beautiful Life!”Contact Information:

Carrie Petty 317-413-6447www.CarriePetty.comBiography:

Carrie Petty is a fourth generation Hoosier! She is a lecturer, Master Gardener, as well as a top Garden and Lifestyle Blogger. An amateur naturalist, painter & photographer, Petty loves teaching families how to, “Grow a Beautiful Life.”

Find here articles monthly in all the TownPost Magazines and on her gardening & lifestyle blog: www.CarriePetty.com

She can also be found on Facebook and Twitter @Caroline_Garden