Author: Dianne DeLongchamps
What does a fall yard cleanup include?
A fall yard cleanup in Fort Collins can include four jobs: removing or mulching fallen leaves, pulling weeds from garden beds and rock areas, trimming shrubs back, and spreading new mulch over the beds. Which jobs your yard needs depends on its trees, beds, and shrubs, and some cutbacks are better saved for late winter or spring.
When lawn season is over, Clean Air Lawn Care shifts to fall cleanup and bed cleanup for yards in Fort Collins, Windsor, and Timnath. This post covers the yard and garden bed side of fall, which is separate from the lawn tasks in our post on the difference between fall cleanup and winterizing your lawn. We can also remove small lower limbs from trees, but we do not climb trees to remove limbs. Anything that takes climbing is a job for an arborist.
Should fallen leaves be hauled away or mulched?
Leaf removal has two options: haul the leaves away or mulch them. We prefer to mulch because it is great for the soil. Colorado State University Extension in Pueblo County makes a related point in Fall Garden Chores, Less is More! that “Dry fall leaves make a great mulch for the ground they fall on.”
Leaves on the lawn itself are a separate question, and our earlier post on whether to rake, mulch, or bag leaves in Fort Collins covers it. This post is about the beds, rock areas, and shrubs around the lawn.
Why does pulling weeds from beds and rock matter in fall?
We pull weeds from garden beds and from rock areas as part of a fall cleanup.
Can shrubs be trimmed in fall?
We do basic fall pruning of shrubs, including trimming them down. The timing question is worth understanding before any cutting starts, because shrubs do not all follow the same schedule. CSU Extension in Pueblo County advises in It’s the perfect time to prune your trees and shrubs to “prune your spring-flowering shrubs after they are finished blooming,” because those shrubs set their flower buds during the summer of the year before. The same page says “Both trees and summer-blooming shrubs should be pruned in late winter to early spring before bud break.”
The same page also says that cuts should get rid of “damaged branches, infected areas, and any other growth that may be inhibiting good structure,” and calls these your first priorities. If you are not sure which kind of shrub you have, identify it before you trim it back hard.
What should wait until spring?
A fall cleanup does not have to mean cutting everything to the ground. CSU’s PlantTalk Colorado page Perennials: Maintaining says to “leave stems and stalks in place until early spring before cutting them to the ground,” and it notes that “Many gardeners enjoy the beauty of seedheads.” The Pueblo County article adds that healthy plants left standing “will provide shelter and forage for wildlife and beneficial insects.”
Diseased plants are the exception. The same Pueblo County article says that “if any of your plants are diseased or had problems with insects, they should be removed right away,” and that you “shouldn’t compost these diseased plants.” That is one more reason to hold off on a blanket cutback and look at each plant first.
When does new mulch go down?
Putting new mulch over the beds is part of our fall cleanup. Timing, depth, and materials have their own answer in our companion post on whether to mulch flower beds in the fall.
If you have questions about your beds before winter, please reach out.
Clean Air Lawn Care Northern Colorado is owned by Dianne, Paul, and Luke DeLongchamps — a family business serving Fort Collins, Windsor, and Timnath with organic lawn treatments and solar-powered electric equipment.
