Here is a listing of what should be attended to this month:

• Divide those perennials that have grown too big and distribute their beauty to other garden beds…or donate them to the plant sale!
• Gather seeds from your annuals; dry them out well and store them in envelopes or paper bags over the winter to start a new batch of annuals next spring.
• Turn the compost pile over.
• Plant your winter vegetable garden with such goodies as oriental greens, winter lettuces, spinach, kales, shallots.
• Plant spring-flowering bulbs. Some suggested varieties include daffodils, tulips, anemones, muscari, alliums, scilla, etc.
• Treat your lawn to some low nitrogen, high phosphorous fertilizer now for rewards of green pastures come spring.
• Worn a path to the shed? Sprinkle some soil down on the worn areas and sprinkle a little grass seed. Too well worn? You may want to think about putting in pavers, gravel or bark mulch to make a proper path.
• Nights will be getting cooler…time to start bringing those tender plants into the house.
• Do a final light trimming on hedges.
• Prune your summer-flowering shrubs such as Philadelphus (mock orange), Deutzia, Syringas (lilacs), etc.
• Start a new pile in the compost bin as you do your fall cleanup.
• Just have to have winter colour? Check out the winter pansies and ornamental kales that are arriving in the nurseries now.

Article submitted by Leslie Cox
CVHS member and writer as the “Duchess of Dirt”