SEATTLE — "Okay, winters creeping in, and I'm going to show you that three things that you need to do to get your garden through the winter time," said Seattle gardening expert Ciscoe Morris.
"So number one, and this is the hardest one, you've got to weed. Now you may think you could just throw mulch over weeds, but if you do they'll come back to haunt you in the spring." Ciscoe adds that clearing that fall flush of weeds now will reap big dividends when growing season begins.
Task number two is to get rid of plants that have died back for the season, like Dahlias. "You're doing your neighbor a nice favor when you do this," said Ciscoe as he snipped his going-dormant dahlias at the base of their stalks.
"I'll bet you think that you got to dig the tubers out to keep that dahlia alive, but I'm going to show you a trick I use every year and I almost never lose a dahlia," said Ciscoe. "So, I do cover them with these evergreen fern fronds I've pruned. And these are everywhere. And don't forget to put a rock on top so they don't blow away!"
Ciscoe says sword fern fronds are also great insulators, and they repel the rainwater that can soak into the soil and rot dahlia tubers.
After weeding and cutting back dead growth comes your most important winter prep chore: Mulching. "You want to put mulch down on the soil of the garden. Now my favorite mulch is wood chips from the arborist," said Ciscoe, showing off a handful of different sized woodchips he got for free (call your local arborist to see if you can get a deal). "Why do I like these? Because they don't pack down like bark does, which doesn't allow air and moisture to get to your plants. They give you great weed control and it breaks down into the best topsoil you've ever seen."
Spread mulch two inches deep around plants, and six inches deep if you have any wide open spaces with no plants, just to keep weeds at bay.
Ciscoe's final bit of advice - don't forget to harvest your veggies. Especially if they happen to be 25 lb. zucchinis.
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