my garden chores for october 2014

WHERE TO BEGIN with the massive job called fall cleanup? Top on our chores list this month: a 7-point program to help us all focus—along with some critical note-taking on the 2014 garden, as we’re teasing it apart.fall cleanup: the short versionLeave especially ornamental or wildlife-friendly plants standing. Don’t act as if you’re vacuuming the living room; clean up beds tactically for maximum enjoyment by you and the birds.Remove sickly things first. Destroy the debris to minimize next year’s issues with squash bugs, cabbage worms, voles, and other pests and diseases.

Like this.Stabilize woody plants: Identify any vulnerable limbs, removing broken or dead branches now to make sure winter weather doesn’t worsen things. Pruning 101.Gather leaves, and even start a leaves-only compost pile. I run them over with the mower to save space.

Once they get crumbly, they make great mulch, or can be turned into beds to add organic matter.Late-season lawncare: Do your heavy raking now—not in spring—and overseed if there’s still time. Here’s why that’s smart.

Topdress with a half- or three-quarter-inch layer of compost onto thin or trampled areas.Protect or store weather-vulnerable pots: At a minimum, move pots under cover, where they will at least dry off (to minimize heave/thaw effects of weather). More tricks on weather-proofing and overwintering pots are in this story, with my friend Ken Druse.Weed! Besides cleaning up around diseased plants, this is a giant “must.” Even if you can’t weed, exactly, deadhead your weeds now and discard the seeds somewhere they cannot resprout.

IN EARLY