"To Do" or Not to Do

“To Do” or not to do: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler to do everything under the sun when it comes to fall clean-up and winter prep in the garden or to abandon parts of the Fall To Do list… well, that is a matter of what, specifically, you grow in your garden and what your time is like. In some cases, it is also a matter of preference.

Many times, gardeners look at their Fall To Do lists and shudder at the number of tasks that conceivably could be undertaken. Cutting back perennials, raking out beds, pruning—Does this bloom on old wood or new?—YIKES….! It can be enough to make even the hardiest gardener feel overwhelmed. But fall should be a pleasant time in the garden, a time for thinking of the season that has passed and for looking ahead to what will come up again in spring. Yes, there are tasks to be completed, but the sheer number of them should not tamp down the enjoyment we can take in our harvesttime gardens. 

Personally, the first thing I do when summer has drawn to an end is get my hands on a good Fall To Do list, a list that gardeners have prepared for other gardeners. I like to have some guideposts in readable form, to be sure I am not overlooking something that really “needs doing”. 

Lists of guideposts are great memory tools. I always keep in mind that fall is the time to dig in spring-blooming bulbs such as those for Tulips, Daffodils, and Hyacinths. But invariably, I forget that I should also make haste to lift up any Dahlias, Cannas, or other plants that grow from tubers too tender to make it through winter. My Fall To Do list reminds me of this, and sets me on the path toward tasks such as these which really cannot wait.

But there are other tasks that, in fact, can wait. And if you are experiencing a year when you are short on time, then let them do just that. A good Fall To Do list can set the landscape for autumn work in the garden, and you can then pick and choose a few dots on that landscape to completely ignore. Don’t feel that you have to do it all.

For example, in autumn, I carefully prune my Panicle Hydrangeas and other shrubs that bloom on new wood. I can trim these without fear of losing blooms in the next growing season, and I have come to learn that a rather severe pruning gets me more new growth and shapeliness than a trimming that is delicate and fearful. But although good Fall To Do lists typically remind me to give other shrubs a visual “once-over” and cut out any dead branches, I sometimes save this task for the earliest part of spring when I am searching for any excuse to get outdoors. In fall, I completely ignore this task, this little dot on the landscape.

I cut back most of my perennials, and I sometimes do a little dividing in fall, say in the case of Iris clumps which have not bloomed very well in the previous season. Refreshing the clumps with some digging up, dividing, and transplanting can help. But although my Fall To Do tasks used to include cutting back my many Hostas right to the soil, I have learned that this saddles me with piles of sturdy green and autumn-yellowed leaves that require disposal and are somewhat unmanageable as they get hauled off. Some years, the bending, cutting, and disposing of these leaves are worth it. But other years, I keep these perennials intact until their leaves become tissue paper-thin, a breeze to rake up or almost sweep off the soil, and gloriously compact for disposal. My Fall To Do list grows smaller using this latter method, and I can spend my time elsewhere.

Vines such as Sweet Autumn Clematis get trimmed down well. This prompts good and full growth for the next season. In the case of this plant, growth is green all summer, with starry white flowers opening to light up the landscape in the latest part of the growing season. But if self-sowing of such a plant is desired, I leave it to form seed heads. I leave it to do its thing.

Work related to fruit trees such as Apples does not take up time in the Fall To Do regimen. Removing any branches on these is a task for when the trees are dormant in winter or in the earliest days of spring. But protective moves are made with other trees, such as some of the decorative Arborvitaes. In my region, small and immature ones can benefit from being dressed in nice burlap coats prior to winter, the sort of burlap wraps that my neighbors’ Boxwoods wear. And while some shrubs should stay untouched, Buddleias and Spireas, for example, should get a good trimming to help them avoid breakage.

To do or not to do… Sometimes we gardeners ignore aspects of our Fall To Do lists to benefit wildlife. We can leave some perennials that would otherwise be cut back to provide winter hares and other garden visitors much-needed protection from snow, cold, and predators. We can leave some tall plants with seed heads to feed birds that stay on or that will return to the region a little too early for food to be abundant. Sometimes the “not to do” is done out of kindness for these creatures that grace our gardens with their presence.

Sometimes we choose “not to do” simply because we are tired, we are busy, or frost and snow put an end to our work before we expect them to. No worries… most of our plants will not suffer all that much. In many cases, we can do what needs to be done a little later, in spring. Nature is forgiving.

So, don’t get overwhelmed. The garden is never supposed to overwhelm the gardener, unless it is with sights of incredible beauty. Just pull out your Fall To Do list, get a lay of the land, and then pick and choose what you will do and what you will save for another season. “To Do” or not to do: that is the question you will answer correctly, pretty much no matter what you do… as long as you enjoy.