I have to admit, this was not a good year for my garden.  I can relate a long list of reasons, but in the end, they’re all an excuse for a garden that got out of control, weeds ran rampant, and I gave up sometime in August and just enjoyed the rest of the summer while working on other projects.

Now summer’s days are dwindling away and fall will arrive in just a few weeks.  The thing is, I have no intention of waiting until next spring to reclaim my garden.  There are still plenty of days ahead before the garden goes to sleep for the winter (and even then there are tasks I can do in anticipation of spring). 

Goldenrod in bloom.

One of the things I’m planning on doing is to prepare a few new garden beds.  By preparing them now, I’ll have a jumpstart on next spring.  I’m planning to do this the most efficient and least labor-intensive way possible.  I’m going to use occultation to remove whatever is growing there now—likely remnants of a lawn that just wouldn’t accept its demise and some very happy goldenrod and jewelweed. 

I’ll be trimming weeds close to the ground then covering them either with a weighted tarp or by layering newspaper or cardboard then covering it with mulch.  The former is less work, so I may stick with that, but I’ve often used the paper and mulch method in the past and I’ve been pleased with the results. 

There are some benefits to the weeds: they offer food
for pollinators as well as an alternative for visitors
like the deer to munch on that aren’t my plants.

I recently wrote about preparing a new garden bed now for use in the spring.  You can find a link to that article under the Garden Writing tab above or follow this link: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/news/prepare-garden-beds-now-spring .

Do you prepare for next year’s garden in the fall?

* * * * *