Ep. 89 Fall Garden Cleanup Tips #GoodGrowing

After an unseasonably long wait for our first frost, we finally got hit the first week of November. Frost in the Midwest sets about a chain of natural events in the landscape as the world prepares for winter. What are some things to consider when putting the yard and garden to bed in the fall? The Good Growing crew discusses what is on their to-do list to get their gardens prepared for winter. Watch us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fcmbHDXzdY 1:27 - Talking the first frost - were we ready? 3:36 - Controversial advice to cut back perennials. What about the insects? Should we leave the stems? 7:07 - The exception to not cleaning up the garden 8:04 - Is there a right answer to cleaning up the garden? What's our podcast philosophy 8:42 - Same question but now dealing with fall leaves. What is our approach to handling our fall leaves? 11:57 - What is the leaf cleanup controversy? 15:00 - Cleaning up the vegetable garden. What we do. 18:18 - Getting strawberries ready for next year. 19:38 - Making strawberry wine with this year's harvest 21:30 - Preparing machinery for winter 23:04 - Getting hand tools clean and avoiding rust 24:12 - Shipping delays for our fall bulb planting. Where are they!? 25:57 - Saving tender perennials like dahlias, elephant ear, etc and storing for the winter 27:32 - Getting hoses unhooked and drained Odds'n'ends 28:10 - Preparing drip irrigation system for winter 28:48 - Emptying the rain barrel 29:08 - Storing pesticides and winterizing sprayers Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.