By Sally Scott

The time is approaching to take a look at how your gardens fared this summer and to see if there are things that you’d like to change, move around or tidy up. There are three basic areas to tackle in putting your gardens to bed for the winter: annuals, perennials, and shrubs and bushes.

Annuals

Annuals, which are planted in the spring to provide colour and interest all summer, unfortunately do not survive our winters. Once they have started to fade or have stopped providing flowers, it is the time to dig them up and compost them. Some (poppies, cosmos, foxglove, hollyhocks) may have dried seed pods that could very well provide you with a few volunteers next spring, so give them a good shake, and keep an eye out for them next year. Popular annuals in this gardening zone might include zinnias, cosmos, poppies, snapdragons, marigolds and sunflowers.

Perennials

Perennials are the tried-and-true plants in our gardens that survive the winter and come back every year. But it’s time to cut them back. That might seem harsh, but it’s okay to cut them down to just three inches from the ground. If they are getting huge and crowding your beds, It’s also the right time to divide and cut away root systems that are unruly. This commonly applies to hostas, daylilies, perennial geraniums, euphorbia and the like. By doing this now, you will have a clean slate for next season and more space for your favourites to grow. Other favourite perennials in this area are hydrangeas, sedum, astilbe and peonies, as well as echinacea, rudbeckia and iris.

Shrubs and Bushes

Shrubs and bushes benefit from a good pruning and shaping after flowering and before the cold weather really sets in. Check your lilacs and prune off dead flower pods to encourage more flowers next year. Shape your spirea, boxwood and weigela, and deadhead spent flowers. There are some hydrangeas that fall into this category; however, others do best with pruning in the spring. Roses like the cooler weather, so prune rose bushes last.

Planning for Spring

Once everything has been taken out (your annuals), cut back (your perennials) and pruned (your shrubs and bushes), you can step back and perhaps begin to determine where you might want to plant some bulbs that will produce plants – and some very welcome colour that show once the snow has started to melt.