After a spring time of planting and a summer of weeding you may not want to do much come fall. But there ARE a few things to do to make your gardens even better come spring. Don't fret though - here are a lazy gardener's tips:

Don't trim or cut back anything unless required for proper growth. I leave my perennials "as is" for the winter. They provide some visual interest come February, provide perches for bugs and small birds and do no harm as they stand. Face it, no one is out in the fields and forests cutting back wildflowers and still they thrive!

If you MUST move shrubs or divide things - do it now. Not only is it the right time, but just think, you won't work up a big sweat doing it!

Mulch your beds. This is the easiest job in the world and involves NO DIGGING. You read that - NO DIGGING and NO TILLING. Rake up your leaves (or collect them from neighbors if you don't have enough) and run them over with a mower. Chop them up good and dump them right onto your flower beds. They'll provide some insulating coverage and - as long as they're small enough - will decompose down and add nutrients to your flower beds.

Don't worry about covering anything over - a good snow pack will insulate everything just fine. If you're worried about detritus blowing around, cover with a burlap which will allow moisture and air to circulate and ultimate breakdown too.

Store extra leaves for browns for the compost pile come spring.

If you're an extra frugal lazy gardener like me, fall is the time to start a new flower bed too. Yes, that's correct START a NEW flower bed. It's called a lasagna bed and the "recipes" are as varied as the gardener. Basically, create a layered compost pile as if you were creating layers of lasagna. The bigger the better. Pile it on! Don't dig. Don't mix. Don't stir. Let it sit - all winter. Come spring, you'll have the black gold that gardeners dream about - all with little to no back breaking work.

Now wasn't that easy? No digging involved. Do as mother nature does, layer it on and leave it. It may not be pretty but it works.

Learn more about this author, M Tyler.
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