Fall and Winter Garden Chores for Northwest Yards

Fall is not the end of the gardening year here, it is the start of the next one. The work you do between October and February is what makes a Portland metro yard easier to handle when spring finally arrives.

Why fall matters more than spring

Our mild, wet winters give you months of workable ground. Soil stays soft, rain does most of your watering, and anything you plant or amend in the fall has time to settle in before the growing season begins. Skipping fall chores usually means paying for it in a muddy, overgrown March.

Clean up and cut back

Clear out spent annuals and any vegetable plants that have finished. Cut back perennials that have died to the ground, but leave a few seed heads standing for the birds. Rake leaves off the lawn and out of beds where they smother small plants, and put the rest to work as mulch. This is also the moment to pull any weeds before they drop seed.

Feed the soil, not just the plants

Spread compost or a light layer of leaves over empty beds and let the worms pull it down over winter. Fall is also the right time to test and adjust your soil, and to plant garlic, which happily overwinters in our climate. Cover bare ground with mulch or a cover crop so winter rain does not wash nutrients away.

Protect what you want to keep

Drain hoses and shut off outdoor taps before the first hard freeze. Tender pots should be moved against the house or wrapped, and a layer of mulch around the base of shrubs insulates roots from a sudden cold snap. Evergreens and anything newly planted still need water during dry spells in winter, so do not put the hose away too early.

Quiet winter jobs

Prune dormant trees and shrubs, sharpen your tools, and plan next year's beds while everything is bare and you can actually see the shape of the yard. It is also a good season to notice how water moves across the lot after a heavy rain, which tells you where a raised bed or a French drain would earn its keep.

Christian Ching is the local agent to ask about the area and what a yard here needs through the wet season.