Take advantage of the last beautiful fall days and use them to gather, plant and prepare the garden for winter before the first frost.
The last days of fall are appropriate for seeding. So any seeding you need done should be done these days before the cold arrives. In case the fall nights announce low temperatures, protect the fresh planted seeds with a plastic foil.
Fall is the perfect time to plant flowers, bulbs, bushes, fruit trees or regular trees. It is the proper time to plant any type of rose you want but also place the biannual flowers in the garden containers. Bury the ornamental bushes’ roots under a thick layer of dirt and keep in mind that this is also the time to plant fir trees.
During the last fall days you have to shelter the pots containing citrus trees and other Mediterranean plants inside a cool, light and dry room. Do not forget to “tuck in†the sensible plants under a blanket of straw.
Be inspired and apply recycling techniques to take nature’s help to reuse the vegetal waste resulted from cleaning the garden. Consider the dead leaves a resource for creating excellent compost, rich in humus, that you can use in spring to nourish the tree roots.
When doing the big garden cleaning, gather the dead leaves in one place before vacuuming them. This way you will be done quicker than vacuuming them one by one.
If the leaves piles are tall, it will make the process take longer; so if there is a large surface to be covered it is better to make more than one pile. The whole operation is better done when the leaves are well dried.
Clean the bushes of dry branches using scissors and if you want to mince them, cut them into small pieces.
The waste resulting from cutting live fences decompose slower; so in order to speed the process, you will have to cut or mince it before you add it to the compost. A few months later the result will be ready to be spread around the garden.
During the time your garden is resting, reserve a large enough room to deposit the compost. Gather the leaves, the cut branches and the mowed grass there, and place them in successive 18-20 cm layers.
In the case you want to accelerate the decomposition add one or two layers of manure mixed with water. It will cause fermentation and speed up the process within 2 to 4 weeks.
