End-of-season garden cleanup — print version.
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SUS Farms · Utah Gardening
End-of-season garden cleanup
season · beginner · ~4 min read
A clean garden going into winter prevents disease carryover, gives you a head start in spring, and recycles nutrients. But "clean" doesn't mean "sterile" — leaving some structure for wildlife matters, especially for native pollinators.
Pull diseased plants — burn or trash
Tomatoes, squash, and brassicas with any sign of late blight, powdery mildew, or fungal disease should NOT go in the compost. Bag and trash, or burn in a fire pit. Disease spores survive home compost piles.
Compost healthy debris
Pea vines, bean plants, healthy tomato cages, lettuce gone to seed — chop into pieces and add to the compost pile with carbon (straw, leaves) in equal parts. Turn once before the freeze locks the pile.
Leave some standing
Sunflower stalks, ornamental grass plumes, and seed heads of black-eyed susan and coneflower feed birds through winter and shelter beneficial insects. Cut these in March, not October.
Sow cover crops or mulch
Beds you're not cover-cropping should get 4 inches of leaves or straw to prevent erosion and suppress weeds. Pull the mulch back 2 weeks before spring planting.
Drain irrigation
Blow out drip lines with a small compressor or open all end caps and let them drain. Frozen water in drip line splits the tubing — every line you forget to drain becomes a leak in May.