Putting the Garden to Bed
W
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Tidy up!
Tidy your containers too. Freezing weather can cause terra cotta and ceramic pots to crack and burst apart over winter, so it’s also a good time to empty these pots and store them inside. If you can do it now, scrub the interior of the pots with a solution of water and bleach prior to storage (or empty now and sanitize them ahead of plantings in spring).
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Get down to business with bulbs.
Dig up dahlias...
Get beds tucked-in with a cozy blanket of mulch.
Mulch is a like a big thick comforter for your garden and will give many plants a fighting chance against the cold of winter. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and lavender benefit from a mulching (a light, dry one, if possible), as these can be felled by January freezes. Mulching also extends the harvest season for cold-hardy roots such as carrots, turnips, radishes, and potatoes, allowing you to harvest these crops without a root cellar well into December or January (though you shouldn't plan on them making it into deep winter with only mulch as a cover unless your mulch is extremely thick).
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Sow some seeds. Yes, you read that right.
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