Homestead
BDN’s Homestead section is a celebration of rural life. Our writers cover small farms, animals, DIY solutions and fascinating Maine people who find unique ways to live simply. Read more Homestead stories here.
The plants in your garden might be dead, but the pests and diseases they hosted probably aren’t.
There’s growing interest these days in leaving more organic matter like vegetable debris or fallen leaves on the ground to decompose, enriching the soil. But how do you do that without inviting mold, disease or unwelcome living visitors?
Plants will never be perfectly clean or managed, but you can increase your chances of success next year by cleaning up known sources of risk while adding nutrients.
Remember: your soil will be healthier if you don’t leave it completely bare over the winter, but you have options for covering it. Disease and bugs can linger invisibly, so cleaning up now will help you later. Finally, you can mix or modify these ideas.
Dead crops
Pull out the remnants of annual crops like vegetables if you saw disease or pest problems on them. Many gardeners pull all of their vegetables crops regardless, taking no chances. Pests such as aphids, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, asparagus beetles, corn borers and onion thrips spend the winter in dead plants.
Diseases such as blight and downy mildew overwinter too. That’s one reason to rotate what beds you plant each crop in, so that issues can’t get a bigger foothold. It’s too late now, but next fall you can try planting a cover crop to keep the soil covered and add nutrients.
If any parts of your garden are fully cleared out, add some compost or a mulching material to cover them through the winter.
Don’t put diseased or pest-ridden plant debris in your compost pile. Industrial composters may get warm enough to kill the diseases or eggs therein, but residential piles likely won’t unless you’re a master composter.
Instead, bag plants and take them to the dump or burn them. If you have enough land, you can also dispose of these plants there a good distance away from the garden. Many Maine towns aren’t giving burn permits right now because of wildfire risk from dry conditions, so check with your fire department and be careful if you choose that option.
Landscape plants
If they look healthy, perennials like shrubs, bushes and native flowers can typically stay in place for the winter, where they provide food for birds and shelter for some of the insects people like to see in their gardens such as ladybugs and bees. Cut them back in late winter or early spring when it’s time to send out new growth.
Fallen Leaves
Letting leaves decompose where they fall can return nutrients to the soil instead of exposing it to the elements, give you less work to do and provide winter shelter to beneficial bugs.
But leaf piles can also provide habitat for rodents and ticks, become matted or invite mold if you don’t manage them carefully.
Don’t let them build up more than two or three inches. Shred or finely chop them, unless you have a diseased, moldy or pest-ridden tree — treat those leaves like you would the vegetable plants. You can chop the leaves with a lawn mower or string trimmer. This will prevent them from matting as much and might make them decompose faster.
If you’re concerned about ticks or rodents, you can try this in one part of your yard farther away from the house and see how it works.
Tools, containers and the greenhouse
Scrub and disinfect your tools and containers or trays you plan to reuse. The old soil in them can carry disease and spread problems. Hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and bleach are common household options for disinfecting.
If you have a greenhouse or potting shed, now is the best time to give it a deep clean. These areas can be hotspots for spreading plant diseases and an environment for algae that harbors insects like fungus gnats.
Take out plants and soil, use an outdoor vacuum if you have one, sweep out the rafters and plastic, scrub irrigation equipment and clean the benches.
There are disinfectants designed specifically for greenhouses and for algae management, but check labels to be sure you’re using them safely. The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s cooperative extension has a very thorough guide for greenhouse cleaning.
