You are not alone...I still have at least a weeks worth of cutting back to do. Got the mushy hosta debris done a couple of days ago for the most part and some of the plants that have already died back. Did some raking but still much more to do. We have had snow in the air but nothing that landed & stayed. Fingers crossed we all get enough clean up time.

Nope, you are definitely not the only one. I have really not done any clean-up yet. Yikes. This school year is already taking its toll and I am completely exhausted by the weekends. :( Maybe tomorrow.

Nope, you are not the only one.
I am way behind this year. I have only tomorrow to clean up the rest, because we are going away for a month.

I have been busy raking leaves and shredding them for mulch. Plus many plants were still looking too good to cut.

So tomorrow, I will have to go out in the blustery cold and clear away everything. It is very likely that the 20+ bags of leaves that I collected from the alley will have to stay in the bags until next spring. :-D

Sleet here on Friday but nothing laid. It felt colder than the 37 degrees the car said. I paint and sew to sell at a local craft store and their Christmas Open House is this coming weekend. I have lots of stuff to finish up for it. AND I'm on notice for Jury Duty this coming week. When they tell me to come in, it can be for one day or a week.

I need to move a few large pots into the garage since I'm not going to get the plants in them planted. I want to put in a few bulbs and I need to harvest some more seeds. Need to clean up and store my Amaryllis and Dahlias for the winter. Not sure when all this is going to get done but the weather here is supposed to improve Monday and Tuesday. No possibility of Jury Duty on Tuesday - Yeh - since it's Veterans Day in the US. Maybe I can get a few things done then.

It's nice to hear that other gardeners aren't done for the year yet! Misery likes company.
Linda

I have taken to cleaning up my gardens in the spring. I just find it easier to clean up the hosta and daylilies when the foliage is dry. I do trim the flower scapes but leave everything else, kind of natural mulch.

Sherry

I snatch decent days regularly all winter long to clean, cut & dispose. There is no way my trash cans would hold it all in one big fall cleanup and there is no way I'd get it all done either. By the time late Feb or early March arrives, I'm nearly done cleaning leaving mostly the big grasses & stuff like the Russian Sage, salvias and other woody perennials to cut back before spring growth starts up, I leave them for winter interest along with lots of other stuff so thats a pretty busy cleanup time, more so than fall which is mostly leaves being bagged and disposed of. I don't use leaves for mulch because I have gravel and they cause root rot on many of my plants. The garden looks depressingly bald after the winter interest plants get snipped down and I am really ready for spring and starting to see definite signs at the base of plants and early annuals coming around.

There's all those damn Pin Oak leaves that pile up endlessly all winter in the cactus, the courtyard and in the carport (and everywhere else including inside the house) so there is that mess too thats ongoing so that factors in on the long winter cleanup, thankfully we get quite a number of mild days and the ground stays unfrozen for the most part so I get the cool season weeds pulled during winter saving on that chore in spring when the tree seeds start up.

I spent the day transplanting, got a lot done and a couple areas I had slotted for major change are now to my liking. Those look pretty clean and I feel like I accomplished something major today except I broke my shovel digging out a large Flame Acanthus, the thing had a huge 2.5" tough yellow taproot growing straight down, I couldn't believe, like concrete that was. My shovel foot is swollen and hurting too but I feel good about the changes.

The long nice fall has me behind on fall cleanup. Now I am racing to beat the coming snow storm.

I've been cutting back perennials and shredding leaves all week. Some plants still look nice and a few have a bloom here and there so they have been left standing. A cold front moved in last night with blustery winds resulting in my putting on layers of jackets to keep warm.

Because we are expecting 6-8" of heavy wet snow starting early Monday I cut back grasses today and pulled up the last of the blooming annuals. Moved items into garage for storage and hooked up heater for bird bath. Tomorrow the sedum and any remaining perennials will go. Picked up 30 bags of shredded leaves from the neighbor and spread them over certain plants. Will get leaves from another neighbor tomorrow. If I have time I will put together a winter pot for the front entry. Stopped at the yard waste facility today for evergreen and red twig dogwood trimmings.

You all make me feel better. It's nice to know I'm not the only one. I put off ending the season as long as possible.

I still have 2/3 of the vegetable garden to take out.
I need to trim back all the plants along the driveway or they get tangled in the snow thrower. Not good!
I have annuals still flowering, but I need to clean and store the pots they're in.
More plants to bring into the garage and basement for the winter.
I still have to cut down the peonies, but everything else I let stay until spring. Birds can eat the seeds.

This has been a nice long Fall with very pleasant gardening weather. I'm surprised we haven't had a freeze yet and the Maple in the back still has just about all it's leaves on it. We usually leave a lot of clean up work for the spring, but I know we will have a lot of work moving plants in the spring, so I wanted to take care of as much of everything else as we could. Every weekend we've spent lots of time getting more than usual done. I do wish we moved a lot of the plants this Fall and had I realized how long the Fall was going to be, I would have. I kept thinking, it's too late but clearly it wasn't.

But we're still not done. We have two large vegetable beds that still have plants growing in them, so we haven't finished prepping them for winter. Will have to wait for all the leaves to come down from the back Maple though. We'll have to process all the greens still growing before that.

We've already added an extension to a perennial bed with lasagna layers. I want to spread some organic fertilizer that can break down over the winter and still add plenty more chopped leaves to everything in sight. I have one older shrub that I want to replace in the spring, so I still want to cut down the old one and dig it out. Two large pots that need to be cleaned and put away. A few potted plants still need planting. That should do it, so it's not a whole lot left.

I'd really rather be done by November 1st, so we could turn our attention to the holidays and indoor projects. I'm going to have to remember that for next year.

Only things I cut down were the mildewed Peonies and Monarda. Everything else stays until spring. Feeds the birds and gives me something to look at in the winter.

This is a rare case where I am ahead of the curve! I finished the bulk of the cleanup of the perennial beds yesterday. But I busted a** all summer to thin out all the beds so the work was way, way less than it usually is.

I opted for no new bulbs this fall, and I meant to get some bare root peonies but never did. So that makes things easy.

With one eye on the daunting weather forecast, today I will be harvesting the carrots, putting all containers in the greenhouse, and whatever other prep seems prudent given that it will be below zero in 48 hours. What a transition!

I'm sure everyone else is bustling right now too. Good luck to all!

Dumb me got a new puppy a few weeks ago..soâ¦needless to say I am so far behind. I have a thought that I will be very busy in the spring! I don`t think Iwill get it all done this fall. Oh well, the puppy is very cute! lesley

I'd trade a puppy for getting caught up in the garden. :-)
Any photos of the puppy?

I am still planting a few things - late bulbs and things from my pot ghetto. I've done some clean-up, but I mostly do that either after the ground freezes or in late winter/early spring when the snow has melted but the ground hasn't thawed yet. I like being able to walk on the gardens during clean-up, and it's been so wet this fall that I've had to stay at the edges. I do need to go into the shrub beds and stomp vole and mole tunnels flat in the hopes that they won't get them all redug before the ground freezes. I also need to do some more castor oil. So I'll be busy the next couple of days in the hopes of getting a lot done before we get colder at the end of the week.

Finished the garden cleanup. Good thing I have a head lamp as it was 10 p.m. by the time I came inside. Saw the beautiful Beaver moon rise the night before and listened to the hooting of an owl as I worked in the front garden.

Hated to cut back the grasses which looked so nice but hate cleaning them up in the spring more and they get smashed to the ground when we get wet snow.

Snow is several inches deep this morning and may get as much as 12 inches total of heavy wet snow by tomorrow then the cold begins so it will probably be here until next spring. Glad our snow removal guy will be coming.

Gardening by headlamp, nice. That is commitment for you!

Congratulations on your efforts. I know what you mean about grasses. I always keep a few things standing that offer some winter interest, but not so much as to make extra work in the spring.

We awoke to 12 degrees and about an inch of snow. I'm a little worried about trying to keep the greenhouse warm over the next few days. This is the only time of year I heat it, when it's so full of ripe and ripening tomatoes. But these grey days don't help out with solar gain. Fingers crossed.

Take care everyone, with the abrupt arrival of wintertime!

You can only do so much and you sound like you are stressing to the max! I can tell you love your garden, but it seems like right now it is a little bit overwhelming to you. Take a few deep breaths, then make a list and prioritize what you want, or need, to do first. Unfortunately Momma Nature does not always cooperate with us. I think my BEST advice to you would be to run out and buy a lawn sweeper. Best time-saver in the world for picking up leaves, twigs and other yard debris. Then, if you can afford it, hire a kiddo or two to do some of the other grunt work. The younger kids saving for Christmas seem to do the best work and don't charge as much as the older kids who may not work as hard. Got nephews or nieces? Good luck...remember...breathe deep & try to relax a little.

Here is a link that might be useful: lawn sweepers rock!

I only have four roses to plant. They are being delivered next week. Other than that, everything else is done. Peonies have been cut back, pots have been put away and the hoses drained and put away. I planted all of my end of season perennials a few weeks ago when the weather was still decent. Other than that, I don't cut back the perennials like coneflowers or any annuals, e..g sunflowers, so that the birds have some food for the winter. We are scheduled to get a cold front in the next couple of days - starting Wednesday. Let's just hope it's not the Polar Vortex all over again! :-(

I dug up a crepe myrtle yesterday and have a new azalea and two abelia rose creek to plant in the area, plus some daylilies when they get here. The weather is still mild here so yard "work" is still fun for me.

It was in the 60's today, and will be tomorrow, after which it will go to the 40's- more normal for this time of year. Warmth has been so lovely. And FINally, plenty of rain the last month or 2.
We are near the end of a fall planting of many many woodies and perennials (completely re-did a few areas). Lots of Alliums after that, and then moving a tree or 2 after they've lost their leaves and gone dormant.

We, like babs, prefer spring cleanup. The major reason is that the sheer AMOUNT of debris for us -is ridiculous. And when you let Mother Nature dessicate the plants, in the Spring, you have about 25% of what you would have had to deal with in the fall. I also like being able to walk on frozen beds. We are planning a MAJOR whacking of woodies in late winter.

Last year we left out our humungous glazed pots, and wrapped them in insulation and covered them w/ printed green plastic furniture covers. Our large but not humungous glazed pots , planted w/ clems,we hauled to the screen porch.(we have no unheated garage or greenhouse and our cellar is 60 degrees because it's so tiny.) But this year we have decided to leave all six large glazed pots, planted w/ clems(they grow up an arbor)in situ and insulate and cover them. They are already up on cement risers. Big plastic pots ( sleeves) filled with ongoing lilies and newly planted tulips and lilies- will soon get buried until march or april.

I thought working by porchlight was dedication, but not compared to working by headlamp - you go girl!

Going to be in the 50s today, then dip way down, going to get night freezes this week, so I have to get the pottery inside TODAY; even if I don't clean out the annuals in the pots, I can slip out the liner pots that the annuals are in, take in the pottery and clean up the plants some other time. I have the day off work, so I think I can manage at least an hour or so to get that done.

I did get the geraniums dug already, they are drying on the front porch, all I have to do is throw those in paper bags. The last thing to worry about is the bulbs, but I do have until the ground freezes for that, so I should be able to get that done before the end of the month. Other than that, the rest of the mess can wait - I don't like it, but if that's how it goes oh well.

I love my Petzl and can heartily recommend headlamps for all nocturnal garden exploits.

'Done'....what is this word? never heard of it (in a garden context).

Taking over 6 neglected acres...which has been disregarded since 1972 has given me a slightly different take on the need for 'doneness' since it is glaringly obvious that life carries on, it all its fecundity and show....my little efforts do very little to counter the second law of thermodynamics.....letting me off the hook.

And anyway, I am going for a 'wilderness' look.

Not DONE, pausing to find warmer clothes.

This post was edited by wantonamara on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 23:27

As I mentioned on another thread, I had a mini crisis when some bulbs and trees I ordered early Fall arrived this weekend. (When they weren't shipped in a couple weeks I'd assumed they were going to be shipped in the Fall...)

I've been working off and on the past few weeks - cut down some perennials and annuals, but have left most of them up for the winter. Planted some tulips - first time ever at this house. Need to plant garlic. There is still parsley, kale, beets, and swiss chard to harvest in the veggie garden. Been raking, sweeping, collecting leaves, and pruning. And just got back around to removing invasive plants out back and brush is piling up.

Oh, and before the leaves really started coming down, I sprinkled the front garden, hostas, Baptisia, Echinacea, etc. with the castor oil solution to prevent vole damage over the winter.

Not nearly done though! Need to dig up the Salvis B&B, and bring some other plants into the garage. I'll be working on raking, cleaning gutters, and pruning for weeks yet.

My garden today. Only a few plants are left for "winter interest" or food for the birds because we get so much snow that they are soon crushed to the ground and covered. This grass stands up better than the others so may add interest for awhile.

Edited to add: Sorry for the upside down photo. Used I-pad.

This post was edited by mnwsgal on Mon, Nov 17, 14 at 20:55

I've got the double whammy here. We got this prematurely frigid winter weather like a lot of you guys, plus I gimped up my ankle last week. I'm waiting for it to heal and the swelling to go down but it doesn't seem to be getting better, its been over a week now. I must have really strained it with all that back and forth walking around I frantically did in the garden before the front hit, savoring the last few days and digging up that Flame Acanthus didn't help. I also broke the shovel trying to get it out.

The arctic front killed stuff back and now there's piles of green leaves everywhere along with fallen branches but there's plenty of dead looking green leaves still up in the trees so its just the beginning of the leaves. I guess its good that its so cold which helps force me to stay inside like a good patient and off the ankle. I look out the window and it appears overwhelmingly depressing looking out there at the moment, like a disaster in fact. Today is sunny and 50 degrees and I'm dying to get out there to start cleaning up the mess but I don't dare. I guess I will get it cleaned up finally but usually I do it in stages. I'm kind of pitted with this weather and the rest of it.

I'm behind too- got most of the important leaf raking and piling over beds done in time... only to have half of them blow away and snow came in too soon for me to do anything about it.

Was supposed to clean out the chicken coop on the back 40 property we recently land contracted- that didn't get done, and now I fear it's too frozen to clean up.

Barely got the buckets of glads hauled into the solarium and dug out before it truly hit fridge temps out there.

But at least I got the main garden beds cleared out before the snow hit!

we are behind too. Not many of my seeds sprouted this fall. I only have 4 scrawny broccoli plants in the ground. 3 tatsoi's, 1 kale and a handful of salsify. We covered the pump house up in the cold and blowing wind before the hard freeze last night. Why don't we pick a warm, non windy day to do this ahead of time? We still have dead tomatoes and peppers yank and their cages so I can plant more seedlings. We had a very early killing frost this year.

Oh gosh, you guys just reminded me. We had planned to get that shed cleaned out and the stuff stacked up front for pick up on Big Junk Day. This seems to be the year for being caught off guard and behind on the chores. At least I got the faucets covered. That just about sums it up.

No snow here ever, but we still get behind. Hubby fell and hurt his arm pretty badly that puts a delay on everything. I can't do much with my bad arm and shoulder. Whenever I do I regret it. Of course I do it weekly. I used to be so active, it's hard not to do anything.

zackey, did you dodge the bullet on that weird snow event last year then? My brother is a teacher in Canton GA which is close to Atlanta and they got hit with that snow mess last winter, he had to spend the night at the school with some stranded kids but it wasn't as bad as those people stuck in cars for hours on end.

We are at the bottom of the state. About 8 miles from the Florida line. No snow here. We did have a light dusting of snow a few years ago on Christmas eve. Just enough to be in awe and enjoy it. It melted as soon as it hit the ground.