As summer days are winding down its time to get started a long list of chores in the garden.    Let's begin with an easy list for September and hope the weather holds into October for the rest of the chores we should accomplish before the snowflakes fly in. 

It's time to start putting things in order in September.  It's time to store things away that won't be needed until next season.   Making an effort to store garden items and supplies properly helps them to last and that can help you save money in the long run.  Part of the 'new' notion about consuming less involves learning to care for the things we have and keep them usable for many years.

When everything has a place and everything is in its place it will be easier to get going in spring too.  We sometimes forget how rushed spring can feel and don't always take advantage of the slower, calmer days of fall for chores like these.   It can be surprisingly satisfying to spend a glorious fall day putting things in order and making things just so. 

As container plantings start to look frumpy or when cold takes them out, pull plants out and empty the soil into a bin for next year.  Good potting soil can be reused for 2-3 years if you mix it with fresh compost in spring.  Our favorite bins are made with wood slats and lined with landscape fabric.  This type of bin allows the soil to dry out slowly over the months and keeps it free from mold or rot.  Stored in a dry place away from precipitation your soil will be ready and waiting for you in spring.  After a few years of use, till tired soil into your garden or add it to your compost pile.

Before you add fall debris to your compost pile, turn your pile and harvest any compost that is ready.  Fall compost can be used to top dress around perennials or saved to add to the spring garden.  Annuals you pull out of containers or ground plantings can just be tossed whole on the compost pile.  When your trees start dropping their foliage, be careful with leaves from fall cleanup because too many can damage the microbes that do the work in your pile.  If you have a lot of leaves, put them to the side of the pile and add them gradually as thin layers when you add bulkier debris.  If you have too many to do that, burn or bag them for disposal.

Empty containers should be stored in a dry place.  It's okay to stack them as long as you make sure they don't get stuck together.  One way to avoid that is to put cardboard strips between pots.  Those same strips come in handy in spring to pull pots apart too.  All kinds of pots, ceramic, wooden, plastic, resin or metal last longer if they are stored without soil in a dry place for winter.  If you plan to use pots for holiday greenery, be especially sure to let the pot dry out in fall.  Moisture trapped in ceramic clay or wooden pots will expand when it freezes and can damage valuable containers.

When you are making space to store your pots, be sure to find a spot for birdbaths too.   Filled with water all summer, birdbaths tend to be very vulnerable to freeze damage in winter.  If you want to have a heated bath out for our feathered friends, pick up a terra cotta saucer that you can replace if needed.  Placed simply on a stump of wood it will serve the birds as well as anything fancier.

Garden ornaments that are made of porous materials such as clay or wood should also be stored for winter.   The only material you can count on to reliably weather through winter is cement so urns, statues or fountains made from cement do not need special protection.  Fountains should be cleaned and stored as soon as we begin to have freezing temperatures at night.  If a fountain installation is too big to store, empty it and secure a tarp over it for winter.   All of these kinds of items that you have both spent money on and perhaps designed a garden around will last much longer with good winter protection. 

Hoses should be brought in as soon as freezing temperatures descend.   Remove attachments from hose ends before you coil them for storage to allow water to drain as they are wound up.   Fall is a great time to spend a few minutes repairing damaged hoses.   Simple repairs with new ends and hose clamps will extend the life of even the leakiest hose.  Add fresh washers in spring and you will be able to use hoses with little fuss right when they are needed in during the busy days of next season.

Garden tools benefit from a little TLC in fall too.   Putting tools away for storage clean, dry and repaired helps make sure that they are ready and waiting for you when you need them in spring.     If you are going to handle all your tools to store them for winter you might as well make sure they are clean of dirt, oiled if needed and free of rust.   You might find that you don't buy a new trowel every spring if you know where the one you bought this year is and that it is still in good shape.  Granddad probably oiled wooden handles with linseed oil and wiped metal tools with motor oil mixed with sand, those tools could have been handed down to you if you were lucky.   Take care of yours the same way and your tools will be family heirlooms too.

As you clean and put your garden supplies away for winter you will find that all the chores that need doing now go easier with some order in the process.  And we guarantee you will be glad you took time now when spring rolls around.  Next month we'll talk about cutting back perennials and putting tender plants to bed for winter and the final things you should do before the snow gets here.