Tips

Leave Perennial Foliage Until Spring

Although you can cut back perennials to a few inches from the ground in the fall, leaving the foliage through the winter tends to trap snow and provide good insulation for the plants. Foliage and seedheads add winter interest to the garden as well as food for animals and birds.The most important factor about leaving it is, I have learned over the years the plants will be twice as healthy by the next summer for the mere fact,when you cut the foilage down in the fall you are taking the home of all the beneficial bugs in your garden, if you leave it until the spring you can be rest assured you won't regret it.By cutting it sure it may look better, or you may have this habit of preparing for winter but you are doing your gardens more harm then good.



Give the Birds a Drink

Birds appreciate shelter, food, and a reliable -- unfrozen -- water source in winter. You can help by setting out a clean pan of fresh water each day. To offer a continuous supply of water, add a heater to your birdbath.

Dividing Spring-Flowering Bulbs

Spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths should be divided in the fall. It can be difficult to locate the bulbs unless you have marked or mapped them in the spring when they were in bloom, and this is something to keep in mind in the spring when your bulbs are in full bloom.

Care should be taken not to damage the bulbs when digging. It is easier to dig a large area and separate bulbs than to dig the individual bulbs.

Once you have dug up your bulbs, look them over and discard any that are damaged, soft, or dried out, then divide large offsets or pairs of bulbs by pulling them apart. Replant them as soon as possible.

When To Divide Bulbs

Tulips: Every 3 - 5 years
Daffodils: Every 3 - 6 years
Hyacinths: Every 2 - 3 years
Lilies: Every 4 - 6 years
Surprise Lily (Lycoris):Every 3 - 5 years
Iris (Bulbous types): Every 3 - 6 years
Aliums: Every 4 - 8 years
Crocus seldom needed
Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) seldom needed