Timing the Work
Fall is a comfortable time to be out in the yard. The days run cooler than they did in July, which makes an afternoon of raking and hauling easier work. The ground helps too: after a few fall rains, soil that baked hard over the summer softens and turns easily, so every bed you weed and every plant you lift comes up with less effort. The sensible order is cleanup first, while everything is still accessible, then feeding and mulching as the cold settles in. None of it demands a single marathon day, either. The list ahead divides naturally into a few unhurried weekend sessions, a raking afternoon here, a feeding and mulching morning there, with the shed work saved for a day when the weather turns. Spread it out and each session stays short enough to end with daylight left over.
Rake: The Cleanup Round
An established pile deserves one good final stir in the fall. Compost breaks down more slowly once temperatures drop, and turning it now keeps the process moving into winter. While you are out among the plants, give each one a looking over. Spent blooms should come off before the temperature falls too far. Deadheading at the end of the season sets a plant up to come back healthier when spring arrives. This is also the window to divide crowded perennials, trim the bushes, and prune the trees, so everything heads into winter with a clean shape and no dead weight.
Start in the garden. Pull the expired plants, the tomato vines that have given their last fruit and the annuals that have finished their run, and add them to the compost bin. Then rake the leaves and send them to the same place, or set some aside to use as mulch later in the season. If a compost bin has never made it onto your property, this is the natural moment to start one, with a full supply of raw material dropping from the trees.
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