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How to Prepare Your Garden for Winter
Putting Your Garden to Bed: A Checklist
If you live in cool climates, it’s time to start thinking about closing down your garden for the season. However, there are many things to consider when it comes to preparing your garden for winter. Follow this checklist to put your garden to bed and set yourself up for success in the new year!
How to prepare your garden for winter
1. Harvest any remaining crops
Harvest those last couple fall crops, and any other seeds to save for next year.
2. Identify perennials
Tag or flag perennial and/or overwintering plants for easy identification next season.
3. Pull plants to compost
Pull any plants that are dropping any wet fruits onto the ground—tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, squash, etc. Allowing fruit to rot on the soil will attract unbeneficial insects.
If you have dry plants that are going to seed—flowers, herbs, weeds—you may want to remove those plants so they don’t reseed next season in unwanted locations, especially if you are working with crop rotation.
Cut plants at the root stalk with about six inches of the stem left. This will allow the root systems to hold the soil in place over the winter and into the spring when there is heavy rainfall and melting snow.
Do not compost any diseased plants; these should be discarded.
4. Consider pollinators
Many insects, including beneficial pollinators, rely on plant material for shelter over the cooler months. Consider cutting plant stalks and flower stems two feet above the ground to create shelter for nesting insects such as solitary bees. Leave fallen leaves and flower seed heads to provide overwintering habitats.
5. Add mulch to overwintering plants
Mulch any plants that overwinter, such as garlic, flower bulbs, and perennial herbs, with straw or leaves from your yard.
6. Protect fruit trees
If you have any fruit trees, fall is the perfect time to start preparing them for winter! This includes clearing or mowing leaves, removing windfall apples, and installing tree guards. Read more here.
7. Feed your soil
Add compost or manure to enrich the soil. Apply 2-3 inches of compost and incorporate into the top 8-10 inches of soil.
8. Apply ground cover
Apply ground cover to retain water, reduce weeds, and prevent soil erosion. Cover any bare soil with mulch, or plant cover crops if your climate and timing allows.
Consider using straw, grass clippings, and leaf litter to mulch your beds. These alternatives add more nutrients to the soil than wood chips, which takes far longer to decompose.
9. Put away garden supplies
Take down trellis systems and pull up any non-permanent landscape fabric. Put these away in a protected location for future use.
10. Clean your tools
Clean, sharpen, and put away tools for the next season.
Finally, say goodbye!
Taking care of your garden beds in the fall is the best way to say goodbye until spring.
Start planning your garden for next year
The garden season doesn’t have to end in the fall. In fact, planning for the next year might be the most exciting part of gardening of all! Start dreaming and scheming for spring by requesting your free copy of Seed Savers Exchange’s 2026 Catalog.
The 2026 catalog will introduce 13 new varieties, including six varieties from the SSE collection that will be available commercially for the very first time!
Catalogs will start to arrive in mailboxes in mid-November, just in time for the holiday season.
If you have made an online purchase in the last two years or requested a catalog last year, you will automatically receive the 2026 catalog. Free catalogs available for US addresses only. Canadian catalogs are available for order here.