The 15 Must-Dos of Fall Yard Cleanup

Autumn means football games and visits to the local pumpkin patch. It also means it’s time to get your yard ready for winter. The right preparation now will save you time and energy when spring rolls around, and will keep you and your family safe in the yard year-round. Make sure you get the most out of your yard next year by following our checklist of fall cleanup musts.

Click here to see illustrated checklist

Fallen leaves and weeds are the perfect place for pests to settle in for the winter. Clear out flower beds to keep the critters away from your house. Pay special attention to rose beds, as their foliage can foster disease over the winter.¹

After the final harvest, pull out old vegetable plants and remove debris. If you compost, now is the time to add a layer of compost to help nurture your soil for planting next spring.

Trim up dead, damaged, or diseased branches you didn’t get to in the summer. Prune out-of-place tree branches that may cause trouble during the winter. You don’t want any branches breaking and falling during the snowfall to come.

In many areas, fall and winter are the soggiest seasons. Before the rain and snow starts falling, clear out the leaves and other debris from your home's rain gutters. 

Check for proper drainage, clear out any blockages with a small garden trowel, and rinse with a hose.

Drain all water from hoses, fountains, drip irrigation systems, and other water features, and store them in a dry place. Water left standing over the winter may damage your equipment if it freezes.

Break up soil to keep water from pooling and guarantee that nutrients will reach the roots over the winter.² A garden fork will do the job for small yards, but larger yards may require a walk-behind aerator, which should be available to rent for a reasonable price.

Send your yard into winter with the nutrients it needs to survive the long, cold sleep. Add a fall lawn fertilizer with high phosphorous content to encourage root growth and enjoy a lush, green lawn come spring.³

Fall leaves are a beautiful sight until they're all over your lawn. Left alone, leaf litter can suffocate the grass.

So, rake them up, shred them, and use them as mulch for young trees, shrubs, and flower beds to provide a boost of nutrients, help with weed control, and keep roots warm. You might even be able to skip the raking part if you use a lawn mower to mulch the leaves in your yard.

Trim any dead branches and cut back overgrown trees and bushes during your fall clean up routine. If you have spring-blooming perennials like lilac or forsythia, now is the time to prune without risking blooms.

Set your mower to a low setting and give the lawn a close buzz before winter sets in. This helps the soil dry out more quickly in the spring, which leads to a lusher lawn.⁴

If your perennials really took off this year, go ahead and spread the love. Divide plants and add them to other beds where they will also do well. This saves money and time in the spring. Fall-blooming perennials like chrysanthemums shouldn’t be divided now—wait and divide them in the spring.

Keep sensitive perennials, shrubs, and roses in top shape through the cold days of winter. Add mulch to the base and wrap plants in cloth barriers to prevent damage from freezing. Depending on the hardiness of the plant and your climate, you can use a single sheet or blanket or wrap them in a combination of cloth and plastic.

Some plants do best when planted in the fall. If you want to add new shrubs or spring bulbs like hyacinth, now is the time to get them in the ground. Fall annuals like pansies are also a great addition to keep some color in your yard as other plants go to sleep.

Prevent the growth of mold and mildew by giving the deck a good power wash. If you don’t have a pressure washer, you can rent one from a garden store. Once the deck is clean and dry, add a weatherproofing stain to protect the wood from moisture damage over the winter.

Plants get diseases just like humans and animals. Even if your gardening tools retire for the fall and winter, be sure to clean them thoroughly before storing them for the off season. All-purpose cleaner or rubbing alcohol can disinfect small tools like pruners and loppers while you can use bleach for larger metal tools like shovels.⁵

If you follow this checklist you’re bound to have a wonderfully winterized yard that will be ready to wow you with lush, green bounty once the warm weather returns.

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1. University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, "Rose Diseases: Identification and Management," July 2019. Accessed August 26, 2024.
2. Brian Sparks, West Virginia University Extension, "Lawn Aeration," January 2022. Accessed September 28, 2023.
3. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Plant & Soil Sciences eLibrary, "Importance of Phosphorus to Plants." Accessed September 28, 2023.
4. Aaron J. Steil, Iowa State University, "Yard and Garden: Late Summer Lawn Care," August 2021. Accessed September 28, 2023.
5. University of Minnesota, "Clean and disinfect gardening tools and containers," 2024. Accessed August 26, 2024.