Category Archives: Garden Cleanup

Uncategorized, Soil, Garden Cleanup, Advice, Information, winter, Overwintering

The Hidden Garden: What Happens under the Ground in the Winter Months

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By Amanda McIlhone, Master Gardener in Training

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle”.
Barbara Winkler

As the winter months approach and our gardens begin to settle in for a long, cold season, we often assume they enter a long sleep called dormancy. But beneath the soil, an unseen world remains active. Even while our plants enter a state of rest above ground, life beneath the surface continues to work, change and prepare the garden for the season ahead.

Each fall, we tidy our gardens by cutting down and discarding spent flowers and wilting leaves. However, in our efforts to create a neat and tidy outdoor space, we may unknowingly miss an opportunity to support the health of the unseen world beneath the soil and, by extension, the life above ground that plays an important role in the overall health of our gardens.

So, let’s take a moment to explore what’s happening beneath the soil, how these processes contribute to the ongoing health of our gardens, and what we can do as gardeners to support this remarkable microscopic activity.

Soil Microorganisms

Our soil is teeming with life! Even in a very small amount of healthy soil, you can find billions of microorganisms, including beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and algae, along with other organisms such as tiny insects and earthworms. Each plays an important role in maintaining the overall health of our soil and, therefore, our gardens.

During the winter months, some of these organisms enter a dormant state, while many others remain active, although their activity generally slows as temperatures drop. Organic matter, including decaying plant material, roots and fallen leaves, is gradually broken down by these organisms. This process supports the soil food web while releasing nutrients that eventually become available for plant growth.

Another important process involves nitrogen, one of the essential macronutrients required by plants. Soil microorganisms temporarily incorporate nitrogen into their own bodies as they break down organic matter. This process helps cycle and retain nitrogen within the soil ecosystem. As temperatures rise and microbial activity increases in spring, nitrogen is gradually released and becomes available to plants as they emerge from dormancy and resume active growth.

The best course of action? Keep your soil healthy throughout the year to give your garden the best possible foundation for a thriving growing season!

What can we do as gardeners to support the health of our soil during the winter months?

Avoid removing all spent foliage, stems and annual plant material at the end of the growing season. Plant tissues contain stored sugars and starches that help plants maintain energy reserves. Leaving appropriate plant material in the garden also provides organic matter that gradually decomposes and feeds beneficial soil microorganisms.

Apply a light layer of organic mulch, such as shredded leaves, straw or wood chips, around the base of perennial plants. Along with a layer of insulating snow, mulch helps regulate soil temperatures and protect plants from damaging freeze-thaw fluctuations. It can also reduce moisture loss caused by drying winter winds and provide valuable overwintering habitat for beneficial insects and other small organisms.

As gardeners, we often focus on what we can see above ground. However, by making an effort to protect our soil, preserve organic matter and allow nature to take its course, we help support the countless organisms that make healthy gardens possible. So, as you prepare your garden for winter, remember the magical world beneath the soil and that sometimes, less really is more!

References

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/Healthy-Soils-Are-full-of-life.pdf

https://www.elmdirt.com/blogs/news/what-happens-to-soil-microbes-in-winter?

https://bloomineasyplants.com/the-secret-life-of-your-dormant-garden/

https://www.rbg.ca/environmental-responsibility-and-the-art-of-mulching/

Garden Cleanup, Garden rejuvenation, Invasive, Uncategorized, Weed Control

Smothering Periwinkle: A Practical Way to Reclaim Your Garden for Native Plants

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By Silvia Strobl, Master Gardener

Photo: Invasive periwinkle spreading into my friend’s forest.

For years, gardening magazines praised periwinkles (Vinca spp.)¹ for their rapid growth, low maintenance, and adaptability to a wide range of growing conditions. Today, they are recognized as invasive plants that have spread into natural forests throughout much of southern and central Ontario.

Periwinkle has allelopathic properties that can inhibit the growth of other plants and alter soil chemistry, including increasing soil calcium and sulphur levels (see references cited in Mitchell and Simkovic 2025). These adaptations help periwinkle outcompete and displace native understorey plants, such as trilliums, and impede the regeneration of native trees (ibid.).

Have you been putting off removing that patch of periwinkle in your garden? Hand-pulling can be daunting because even tiny pieces of stem or root can regenerate. Nodes along both above- and below-ground runners can also take root and produce new plants.

There is another option: smothering periwinkle with heavy-duty black landscape fabric.

A three-year experiment

Over the past three years, I have helped a friend control a large patch of lesser periwinkle (V. minor) that was spreading into the native woodland on her rural property. Reluctant to use herbicides, she agreed to try heavy-duty black landscape fabric.

By excluding sunlight, the fabric prevents photosynthesis and gradually depletes the carbohydrates stored in the plants’ roots, reducing their ability to regrow.

Area 1: May 2023 to September 2025

We began by brush-cutting the periwinkle as close to the soil surface as possible. We raked the cut vines into clear plastic bags for solarization before disposal, then covered an area approximately 12 × 12 feet with landscape fabric. We carefully worked around a red elderberry and a red trillium, leaving both uncovered.

In September 2025, we lifted the fabric to find that the periwinkle had been completely killed. We immediately planted the area densely with winter-sown native species, including bluestem goldenrod, zigzag goldenrod, wild columbine, and wood poppy, adding leaf mulch to cover remaining bare soil.

Photo: The border between smothered periwinkle (right) and untreated periwinkle (left) in Area 1 after 2 years of being covered by landscape fabric.

Area 2: September 2025 to August 2026

We reused the fabric and landscape staples from Area 1 to cover the adjacent patch, again brush-cutting the periwinkle first. When we lifted the fabric in late August 2026, we found that the periwinkle had again been completely killed—this time after just one year.

We planted Area 2 densely with native plants  and reused the fabric and staples on the next section, Area 3.

Results

Area 1 in Spring 2026
after Fall 2025 Planting
Area 1 in Fall 2026

If the cost of landscape fabric and native plants is not a limiting factor, you can cover a larger area at once. The Peterborough & Area Master Gardeners used this approach in the Sundial Garden at Peterborough’s Riverview Park and Zoo in June and August 2026 as shown in the following photo.


Tips for Success

Prepare the area.
Brush-cut the periwinkle as close to the soil surface as possible. Rake up the cut vines, bag them in clear plastic for solarization, and dispose of them appropriately.

Overlap generously.
Periwinkle can readily grow through gaps between adjoining pieces of fabric. Overlap seams by 4–6 inches and extend the fabric beyond the edges of the infestation. Curved edges around hardscaping require extra care.

Secure the fabric firmly.
Place landscape staples every 2–3 feet along the edges and overlapping seams to maintain close contact with the ground. Using gaskets can make removing and reusing the staples much easier.

Pay attention to slopes.
Sloping ground can make installation more challenging. Additional rocks, along with landscape staples, may help keep the fabric in contact with the soil.

Protect desirable plants.
Take care when working around native plants. Poorly fitted fabric can allow periwinkle to creep back into the treated area, requiring repairs. At the Zoo, periwinkle that had been covered for three months was already white, indicating that it had been deprived of light and could no longer photosynthesize. Landscape fabric will be kept on for several more months though.

Be patient and plan ahead.
Leave the fabric in place for at least one year, and potentially up to two years, depending on conditions and regrowth. Have native plants ready to establish a dense cover as soon as the fabric is removed. In the photograph, native plants are laid out in Area 2 in the foreground, while zigzag and bluestem goldenrods bloom in Area 1 behind them. Farther down the slope, another patch awaits treatment.

Respect wildlife.
At the zoo, we left the three entrances to a fox den uncovered. Foxes had successfully raised kits there the previous spring, and we wanted to leave the entrances accessible in case the adults returned that winter. We will manage the periwinkle emerging around the den by hand-pulling.

Watch for surprises!
After we removed the fabric from Area 1, a native round-leaved hepatica (Anemone americana) emerged from dormant seed in the soil. What a welcome discovery!

Tips for success

What else can you control this way?

Smothering with landscape fabric may also help control other creeping, non-native groundcovers, including goutweed, pachysandra, creeping Jenny, and English ivy. Both spring and fall can be suitable times to install heavy-duty fabric, provided it is secured properly and left in place long enough to suppress regrowth.

Once the fabric is removed, replant densely with native species suited to the site. This helps occupy the space, reduce opportunities for invasive plants to return, and restore habitat for native wildlife.

Could this approach help you reclaim a patch of your garden for native plants?

Fruits, Garden Cleanup, Shrubs & Trees

Flower Fasciation and Mast Years – Two Garden Oddities Worth Knowing About

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By Emma Murphy, Master Gardener

2026 has been a very strange year for gardeners. A cool, wet spring, a good, hot summer, significant rain in early August, but no rain through most of September.

In our Lakefield garden we saw some interesting examples of fasciation — abnormal growth on plants — during the summer, and lately we have been inundated with nuts on both our aged walnut trees — more than 6 wheelbarrows full.

We even had walnut production on our largest tree (which is about 150 years old and hasn’t produced walnuts for more than 5 years) and they are still falling!

Just part of the walnut haul in our gardens

Flower fasciation and mast years are two really cool quirks of plant biology. So I’ll tell you a little about both and you can impress your friends and family!

They’re two different processes — one affects how a plant grows (fasciation) while the other focuses on how a plant reproduces (mast).

Flower Fasciation – When Plants and Flowers Do Weird Things

From the Latin root meaning “band” or “stripe”, with fasciation (no, not fascination – that’s something totally different!) the growing tip broadens, producing flattened, ribbon-like stems or elongated, crested flowerheads, also sometimes called “cresting” (Fascinating Fasciation). As they explain, there are several ways that this shows on a plant:

  • Stems may be bent or coiled in strange directions
  • A witches’-broom effect may occur
  • Flowers and leaves may appear at odd angles to the stems
  • Leaves growing from distorted stems are usually smaller and more numerous than normal; and
  • Flower heads may be elongated, deformed, or misshapen with more flowers than normal

Here’s a few examples.

Fasciation on a purple coneflower by Wikiway, CC BY-SA 4.0, unmodified
Fasciation on a sunflower
Fasciation of Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver’s Root) in our garden this summer
Screen capture of fasciation examples from the University of Wisconsin link

The triggers to abnormal growth from fasciation are often never identified — it can stem from a random genetic mutation, a hormonal imbalance, or a response to frost, insect feeding, or physical injury — but some cases do have an infectious cause that can spread to other plants through wounds or contaminated water (Fasciation – UC IPM).

Just FYI – in general, the condition is harmless, non-contagious, and does not kill the plant.

Mast Years – When Trees Do Weird Things

You might be wondering why trees in the Kawarthas this year are laden with so many seeds, cones, nuts and fruits, and why you are collecting so many nuts. Well, it’s a mast year, that’s why.

A mast year is when many plants of the same species — not just one tree, but a population across a landscape — produce an unusually large seed crop together, within an intermittent boom-and-bust pattern (Mast Seeding in Perennial Plants: Why, How, Where?).

Various guides identify oaks, walnut, black cherry, basswood, cedar and ironwood as common mast producing trees.

Squirrels and chipmunks love mast years
Have you seen more acorns on oaks this year? (and more squirrels on oaks?)

For gardeners, a bumper seed crop can mean extra autumn cleanup and, potentially, more seedlings next spring. Agriculture Canada flagged more-than-double August precipitation this year, and local trees produced one of the heavier seed and cone crops in the province — sugar maple, white spruce, white cedar, red oak and others all mast-seeded across the Kawarthas this autumn. The drought of last year might have also precipitated this event as well.

Local naturalist Drew Monkman did an excellent article on this year’s mast season, so please read it. Examples of this mast year are all over our garden – look at these piles of walnuts in our garden!

Walnut piles in our gardens
Acorns at the base of a red oak during a mast year
Photograph by Molly Ahearn, courtesy of Rick Ostfeld; originally published in Bradbury, PLoS Biology (2003), CC BY 2.5, unmodified

Do you have any great examples of fasciation or mast in your garden this year?

Bulbs, Garden Cleanup, Water, Weed Control

Garden Maintenance Tasks for September and October

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By Mary-Jane Pilgrim, Master Gardener

September and October are busy months in the garden. The days are getting shorter, but there is still plenty to do before winter arrives.

Keep watering. Trees, shrubs and newly planted perennials need water until the ground freezes. This is especially important as our September has been quite dry this year so far. Give plants a thorough soaking rather than frequent, shallow watering.

Stay on top of weeds. Pull weeds before they set seed. Fall is also a good time to remove invasive plants and unwanted seedlings before they become established. In my garden, I’ve already cut back the daylily foliage and once the frost arrives, the hosta leaves will be next to go. It’s amazing to see the amount of unwanted seedlings and weeds that grow underneath both of those plants.

Deal with fallen leaves. Don’t feel that every leaf must be removed. Leaves can be left in garden beds where they provide winter cover and eventually add organic matter to the soil. On lawns, however, thick layers of leaves should be removed or chopped with the mower. Leaves can also be added to the compost pile.

Clean up the vegetable garden. Remove spent annual vegetables and any diseased plant material. Healthy plant debris can go into the compost pile, while diseased material should be removed from the garden.

Plant spring bulbs. September and October are good months to plant tulips, daffodils, crocuses and other spring-flowering bulbs. Plant them before the ground freezes — daffodils earlier, tulips later.

Don’t rush to cut everything down. Many perennials provide food and shelter for birds and beneficial insects through the winter. Leave attractive seed heads and sturdy stems standing where possible.

Finally, clean and put away garden tools, empty hoses, and store tender plants indoors before frost.

A little work now will make spring gardening easier—and leave something for us to look forward to during the winter!

Advice, Garden Cleanup, Hedging, Pruning

Have You Heard of a Dead Hedge?

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By Lois Scott, Master Gardener

A dead hedge, rather than being someone’s landscaping failure, is a convenient way to recycle wood and other garden trimmings generated in our gardens.  It is basically a controlled pile of material that accumulates from pruning woody plants such as shrubs or other garden detritus. Brush piles are valuable but the idea here is to create a structure as a design element in your garden.  It could serve as a privacy screen, a garden bed edging, windbreak or even a plant support.  The gardener determines the height, width and length within some suggested guidelines.  Your construction can be boxy, wavy, tall or short depending on your garden design needs and preferences.  There a number of resources that offer details on the construction and benefits of a dead hedge.

A dead hedge is comprised of 2 opposing rows of supports that are pounded into the ground.  The rows can be as narrow as you want up to approximately 1.5 metres apart.  The stakes in each row can also be close together or up to 1.5 metres apart.  Wooden stakes, tree branches or steel rebar pounded into the ground make up the supporting structure.  These 2 rows create a gap which you then start filling with your chosen material.  The material in a dead hedge will compress and decompose over time making it possible to keep adding to it.  Meanwhile your hedge is providing habit and food for mammals, birds and insects plus adding nutrients to the soil.  Master Gardener Thom Luloff’s blog on the importance of dead wood in the garden is an excellent read.

Apios Americana, American Groundnut winding into the dead hedge. Photo: Lois Scott

The idea of a dead hedge had huge appeal for me as every pruning job produced a pile of trimmings that needed to be cut up, bundled and put out as yard waste.  It takes fewer cuts for me to fit it on my hedge and no need to package it up and haul it to the curb.  I was also running out of places to ‘artistically’ place wood in my garden. 

Dead hedge blending into the garden. Photo: Lois Scott

My dead hedge screens the compost bins in a back corner of the garden, plants growing around it integrate it into the garden and the wildlife loves it!  For me, it is a very positive addition to my controlled chaos garden.

Garden Cleanup, Spring, winter

Why Spring Weather Is Often Harder on Plants Than Winter

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By Mary-Jane Pilgrim, Master Gardener

It’s easy to assume that winter is the most dangerous season for plants. After all, temperatures are usually well below freezing, snow piles up, and everything appears lifeless. However, for many plants in our gardens, the real stress arrives in spring—not winter. The reason comes down to instability and fluxuation.

In winter, plants enter a state of dormancy. Their metabolism slows dramatically, cell structures change to tolerate freezing, and growth essentially pauses. In this “hibernation” state, many plants can withstand surprisingly low temperatures because they are physiologically “prepared” for them.

Spring, however, is unpredictable. Warm days can signal to plants that it’s time to wake up. Sap begins to flow, buds swell, and cells rehydrate. This wake-up process makes tissues far more vulnerable. When temperatures suddenly drop again—as they often do in April and May—those newly active tissues can be damaged or killed. This is why a late frost can devastate fruit tree blossoms or burn emerging perennials, even if those same plants survived much colder temperatures in January.

Another major challenge is the freeze-thaw cycle. During early spring, temperatures frequently swing above and below freezing within a 24-hour period. Water in the soil expands as it freezes and contracts as it thaws, which can physically push plants upward in a process known as frost heaving. Shallow-rooted perennials such as Coral Bells or Heuchera are especially vulnerable, as their roots can be exposed to air, leading to desiccation and stress.

Moisture imbalance also plays a key role. While snow cover in winter can insulate plants and provide a steady water source, spring conditions are often drying. Cold winds, bright sun, and thawed soil that roots haven’t fully reconnected with can lead to what’s known as winter desiccation. Evergreens are particularly at risk—they continue to lose water through their needles or leaves, but may not yet be able to replace it from the soil.

Temperature fluctuations can even cause physical damage to woody plants. On sunny late-winter or early-spring days, bark can warm up significantly. When temperatures plunge again at night, the rapid contraction can cause cracks, often referred to as frost cracks. These wounds can open the door to pests and disease later in the season.

All of this means that spring is less about extreme cold and more about rapid change. Plants are caught between seasons—no longer fully dormant, but not yet fully active or resilient. For gardeners, this explains why patience is so important. Delaying cleanup, avoiding early pruning of vulnerable plants, and waiting to assess winter damage until growth resumes are all strategies that work with the realities of spring, rather than against them.

In many ways, surviving winter is an achievement—but surviving spring is the real test.

Advice, Bees & Pollinators, Birds, Garden Cleanup, Spring

Spring Awakening, Silent Loss: What Ontario’s Bill 5 Means for Your Garden

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By Thom Luloff, Master Gardener

As the snow melts and the first shoots of green push through the soil, spring invites us back into our gardens with optimism. It’s a season of planning and of imagining birds returning, pollinators buzzing, and life rebuilding after winter. But while we prepare our gardens for renewal, something far less hopeful is unfolding across Ontario: the quiet weakening of protections for the very wildlife we love. 

At the center of this shift is Bill 5, a sweeping piece of legislation that is fundamentally changing how species at risk are protected in our province. Under Bill 5, the Endangered Species Act, once considered a global gold standard for conservation, is being removed. Bill 5 narrows the definition of “habitat,” focusing only on spaces where species physically are, rather than the full landscape the species needs to survive. It also removes certain prohibitions, such as protections against “harassing” species, making it easier for disturbance to occur. 

For wildlife, especially birds, this matters enormously. Habitat loss is the primary driver of species decline. When protections weaken, landscapes become more fragmented, nesting sites disappear, and food webs begin to unravel. The spring chorus we look forward to each year depends on intact ecosystems, and those ecosystems are increasingly under pressure.

So where do gardeners fit into this? Right at the center of the solution.

If policy is stepping back provincially, stewardship must step forward. Your garden is no longer just a personal space, it is a piece of habitat in a much larger, increasingly fragmented system. And the choices you make this spring can directly support species that are losing ground elsewhere.

One of the most powerful actions is deceptively simple: leave some areas (especially the hard to get to ones!) wild. Resist the urge to clean everything up. Leaf litter, fallen branches, and standing stems provide critical overwintering habitat for insects. These insects are the foundation of the food web, feeding birds during breeding season when they need protein the most. Tidying too early can erase an entire generation of life before it has a chance to emerge.

Planting native species is another essential step. Native plants support significantly more insects than non-native ornamentals, which in turn support birds, amphibians, and other wildlife. Even a small patch of native plants can function as a high-value habitat.

Reducing harm is equally important. Avoid pesticides, which ripple through ecosystems. Make windows bird-safe to reduce collisions. Provide water sources and dense shrubs for shelter. These actions may seem small, but collectively they create real, measurable impact.

Bill 5 is a reminder that conservation cannot rely on legislation alone. As gardeners, we are not powerless observers. We are active participants in shaping the landscapes around us.

This spring, as you plan your garden, think about habitat. Think refuge. Think resilience.

Because in a time when protections are being pulled back, the spaces we cultivate may matter more than ever.


Reference


The Narwhal. (2025). Ontario’s endangered species law is barely being enforced — and wildlife is paying the price. Retrieved from https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-species-conservation-act-enforced/ 

[Link to Bill 5]

Garden Cleanup, Perennials, Seeds, Tools, Weed Control

Ten Things I Didn’t Get Done In Time

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by Rachel Burrows, Master Gardener

In December, 2025, winter came in early with freezing temperatures and lots of snow plus a little freezing rain for good measure. I wasn’t prepared and some garden jobs slipped through the cracks. A few can still be done but alas it is too late for some of them.

Mother Nature has outwitted me again!

  1. I like to do a last weed through my perennial bed. Spring is always so busy and I find that a good fall weed keeps the weeds down and it is not such an arduous job in the spring.
  2. I like to spread compost on my beds in late fall. The worms do a great job of mixing it into the soil and it makes more room in the compost bins.
  3. Several bulbs didn’t get replanted after they were dug up when I was redoing the perennial beds. I was listening to Paul Zammitt on CBC and he suggested potting up these bulbs in containers with fresh potting soil. Cover these pots and put  in a cold, frost free area and bring them into the light in late winter/early spring. When I first moved to the Peterborough area, I had no garden to speak of, so I decided to pot up several containers of bulbs but failed to cover them. The mice and chipmunks thought that had won the lottery and ate every single bulb! Be warned! It is a job that I can still get done.
  4. My seeds need sorting out – what is still viable and what should be thrown or given to the birds. I still have time to do this.
  5. I like to dismantle my outdoor evergreen decorations and place them over tender plants. If this snow ever goes down, I could still do this.
  6. I have 2 large bags of leaves all ready in the garage ready to protect new shrubs and plants. For now, I just have to hope that the deep snow is doing the job.
  7. If I could get into my shed, I could sort out all the pots and recycle many of the smaller ones. Alas, the shed is snowed in.
  8. Every fall I clean all my garden tools, sandpapering any rust before oiling the blades and rubbing linseed oil into the wooden handles. Another job that I can still do. I did take out the battery from my lawn tractor and it is stored in my basement.
  9. I should have checked and repaired some of my trellis before growth starts in the spring.
  10. I have had several amaryllis that I have had for several years. They spend the summer outdoors and come inside to my basement before the last frost. I did do this but forgot to put a couple of them under lights in time to bloom for Christmas. Oh well I will have lots of colour for Easter.

Now that the new year is here, I have no excuse for not doing as many of these jobs as possible.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying all the birds that come to my feeders. I even have a pileated wood pecker that pecks away at my suet feeder. Happy New Year!

Advice, Dreams, Garden Cleanup, Garden Design, Websites

Gardening Resolutions

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By Marjorie Vendrig, Master Gardener in Training

We all start January with a list of hopes and plans for the coming year; some of us making resolutions for better nutrition and exercise, or improved habits for work and family. Resolutions are distinct from plans and projects and, when put into practice,  resolutions simply become new habits or routines. Gardeners have endless lists of projects and plans along with many resolutions as they prepare for a new gardening year. As with nutrition and exercise, it’s not easy to develop new habits and to maintain these throughout the year. One of the reasons I decided to become a Master Gardener was to acquire new knowledge and skills and update my habits and routines as a gardener.  I felt I needed a solid commitment to learn and educate, and after almost two years in, I am on the road to changing old habits and learning new ones.

When I moved from a large rural property to a small urban lot, paradoxically garden cleanup became much more complicated. I no longer had a large compost system, and there were bags and bags of leaves and garden waste that neighbours set on the curb every week in the autumn.  My Master Gardener course work helped me understand more about soil composition and why and how much of this garden waste could be used in my own garden.  My resolution was to keep all the leaves for mulch and soil improvement –  I didn’t want to put a single bag out on the curb yet I also wanted a fairly ‘tidy’ garden. After a few years trying different methods, I use my mulching lawnmower and have developed techniques and  habits that allow me to avoid the cumbersome and awkward garden waste bags.

Over the holidays, I’ve taken a casual survey asking for gardening resolutions for 2026. Family and friends –  some experienced gardeners, some new homeowners, along with gardeners interested mostly in vegetables, or in houseplants, in garden design or any other of the many aspects of gardening  – have sent me their thoughts on what they resolve to do as gardeners in 2026. The results aren’t surprising, one friend commented that when she looked over her list, she realized she had made the same resolutions for the last ten years! Making the same resolution year in, year out does not equate with failure, it simply means that it’s an important goal, one that’s important to maintain.

As you glance through this list, I’m sure you’ll nod your head in agreement, there might be a few that you will add to your own list, or even some where you can say it is no longer on a list because it  is without thinking. Generally, with the gardening season still far off, gardeners hope to avoid over consumption, have an interest in native plants and informed gardening.  The following resolutions are pretty straightforward; most are fairly manageable tasks.

  1. Plan garden projects in advance, keep notes of successes and failures.
  2. Prune for shape but also at the right time of year.
  3. Buy only what will get planted right away – and have the space prepared.
  4. Buy only the right plant for the right spot.
  5. Water and fertilize house plants on a regular basis.
  6. Source plant material from Canadian or local growers.
  7. Stay on top of deadheading, particularly to encourage new blooms.
  8. Learn more about growing and pruning clematis (or dahlias, or roses, or fruit trees, or anything else!!)
  9. Buy only what grows in my zone.
  10. More focus on native plants.
  11. More focus on plants to promote pollinators.
  12. Try a few new veggies in the garden.
  13. Fertilize, particularly with compost tea – and keep to a schedule for fertilizing.
  14. Learn more about pest control.
  15. Get better at composting.
  16. Stay on top of goutweed (or other invasives) eradication.

For me, these next two are the most interesting and in some ways, the most challenging:

  • Consider how AI (Artificial Intelligence) may be influencing gardening information or trends and respond accordingly.
  • Make gardening more fun, less work and obligation

References for additional resolutions:

https://www.gardendesign.com/holiday/new-years-resolutions.htm

https://thedailydirt.com/2025/12/26/gardening-resolutions-to-consider-for-2026/

www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/9748-tree-pruning-guidelines.pdf

https://www.almanac.com/new-years-resolutions-gardeners

Advice, Garden Cleanup, Health, winter

The Five Stages of November Gardening: From Denial to Hibernation

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By Mary-Jane Pilgrim, Master Gardener

November can be a odd and awkward time for gardeners. The blooms of summer are long gone, and even the hardiest plants are starting to fade. As we temporarily pack up our tools for winter, many of us go through something like the five stages of grief—only with more dirt under our fingernails than we usually have when grieving.

1. Denial
It starts with pretending the frost and snow aren’t really that bad. You convince yourself that a touch of frost won’t actually kill your tomatoes and that they’ll bounce back by noon when they get a bit warmer. Spoiler: They won’t.

2. Anger
Then comes the frustration. Why did you forget to cover the basil? Why didn’t the weather app warn you about that early freeze? You glare at the sky, muttering about how unfair it all is, and plan to move south at the earliest opportunity.

3. Bargaining
You start making deals with nature: “If I bring the pots inside, maybe they’ll survive.” You shuffle plants indoors, rearranging windowsills in a desperate act of hope with space in the south window at a serious premium. You conveniently forget that most plants won’t actually survive inside of our dry as a desert homes—but you’ve gotta try, right?

4. Mulching
Reality sets in, and you finally take action. You clean up the garden beds (leaving flower stalks for our nesting insects, of course), spread mulch, finally finish planting those tulip bulbs, and then tuck everything in for winter. The tools have been oiled and the mushy hosta leaves are in the composter, just in time for the fluffy stuff to start falling. It’s a quiet, grounding ritual—part farewell, part promise to return but mostly it’s acceptance of our fate as Canadians in a four season climate.

5. Hibernation
At last, peace. You sip tea by the window, dream over seed catalogs, and plan next year’s garden. November reminds us that rest is part of the growing cycle too—and even gardeners need a little dormancy.