With the gardening season coming to an end, now’s the time to start getting ready for winter, according to Purdue Extension Agricultural Educator Phil Woolery. “With vegetable gardens, that’s going to be winding down for most things,” he says. “So doing some fall cleanup in there can be a good idea, to get rid of some of the old plant material from the crops like tomatoes and beans that are still in your garden, getting rid of that, putting in compost and that sort of thing to reduce the amount of diseases for the garden in the next year.”
He says that leaf raking can help with that process. “Leaves can be a good addition for compost, or if you have a mower, if the leaves aren’t too thick, you can kind of mulch the leaves in your yard with a mower. If you can see the grass through it, then it’s fine. You won’t have to worry about raking too much up, then.”
Woolery adds that since there have been a couple of frosts already, tropical plants should have already been moved back indoors, for the winter.
