Fall Clean-Up Checklist: Prepare Your Minnesota Garden for Winter

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A proper fall garden clean-up is one of the best things you can do to set your landscape up for long-term success.

By tidying your garden now, you’ll help prevent pests and diseases from overwintering, protect your perennials, and make spring gardening feel effortless. Use our expert fall garden maintenance checklist to keep your garden healthy and beautiful year after year.

Why Fall Garden Maintenance Matters

Cleaning up your garden in fall helps to:

Fall Garden Clean-Up Checklist

1. Document Your Garden Layout

Before you start cutting and clearing, take a few photos or quick notes of your garden layout. This makes spring planning, crop rotation, and plant placement so much easier. (Crop rotation is especially important for veggie gardens—it helps prevent soil-borne diseases and maintains soil fertility.)

2. Cut Back Vines and Protect Canes

Use clean, sharp pruners to cut back grapevines, raspberries, and blackberries. Leave about six of the strongest canes per foot of row, and gently mound soil around their base to protect from frost and encourage strong spring growth.

3. Remove Fallen Leaves from Garden Beds

Rake up fallen leaves from flower and vegetable beds to prevent fungal issues and slugs. Instead of tossing them, bag them to break down into nutrient-rich leaf mold or shred and rake them into borders as a natural mulch.

4. Cut Back Perennials (if needed)

Trim back perennials that have finished for the season and don’t provide winter food or shelter for wildlife. Cut most to ground level, but be gentle with plants like Heuchera and lady’s mantle to avoid damaging their crowns. Leave ornamental grasses, Astilbe, and Baptisia standing—they provide beautiful winter texture and shelter for wildlife.

Add a sprinkle of phosphate fertilizer and top with mulch or straw for insulation.

5. Clear Out Annuals

Pull or cut back annuals that are done for the season, composting the healthy ones and disposing of any diseased plants. Leaving roots in the soil can help enrich the soil by building organic matter.

6. Weed Thoroughly

Remove weeds and debris from all flower and vegetable beds. A good fall weeding means fewer weeds to battle in spring.

7. Store Garden Ornaments

Before freezing weather hits, move ceramic and concrete garden decor to a dry, protected area. Freeze-thaw cycles can crack or chip these items.

8. Cover Compost Piles

Before the snow flies, cover your compost pile with a layer of straw or a plastic sheet to keep microbial activity going all winter long.

Wrap-Up

By following this fall clean-up checklist, you’ll protect your plants, improve soil health, and cut down your spring workload—leaving you more time to enjoy the growing season next year.

Don’t have time to tackle it all yourself? Our Fine Gardening Team offers Fall Clean-Up Services and Winter Protection Plans through October. We’ll handle the hard work so your garden stays beautiful all year long.

Contact us to schedule your fall clean-up or stop by Sunnyside Gardens for expert advice, tools, and fall planting inspiration.

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