Try planting bulbs in containers

For a unique bulb display in spring, plant bulbs in containers. It is possible to layer bulbs in the container to create a dramatic display of bulbs. Keep the containers in an unheated garage over winter. An attached garage will work best so that the containers with bulbs do not freeze solid on a consistent basis.

Water the bulbs in well at planting, and provide some supplemental water as needed during the remainder of the fall. The bulbs will be forming roots during this time. You may need to water the containers in late winter as temperatures begin to warm up. Move the pots outside as the weather warms in the spring and the bulbs will grow and flower. Move the bulbs back in the garage if a hard freeze is predicted. If you have planted tulips that deer prefer, then it will be a good idea to net the bulbs when you have them outside.

• Wait to cut back perennials until early spring so that there will be some winter interest in the garden. Some perennials such as hosta will not look good after being frozen so it is best to cut them back in fall as they flatten to the ground.

• You may want to consider cutting more perennials back in the fall if you have had problems with voles. Voles are compact rodents with stocky bodies, short legs and short tails and can be mistaken for mice. They do not hibernate and are active throughout the year, mostly at dawn and dusk. Voles primarily eat the stems and leaves of various grasses, but they also consume other vegetation. They will eat the bark of trees and shrubs during the winter, which is typically the more serious damage to be concerned with. Gardens with low-lying landscaping, such as arborvitae, spreading yews, junipers and cranberry cotoneaster have higher potential for vole activity. Voles are the most prolific when they have abundant amounts of vegetation and cover. Eliminate weeds and dense ground cover around lawns to make these areas less able to support voles. Cut back vegetation from the bases of trees and shrubs as winter approaches in areas where there is vole activity. Also, it is a good idea to pull mulch back away from the base of trees and shrubs and keep the snow cleared away from the base of young trees. Reducing cover makes voles more vulnerable to predators such as hawks and owls. In general, removal of cover is very effective in preventing damage done by voles.

• Shredded leaves make good mulch for your garden beds. Serious gardeners can rent or purchase a shredder for the leaves and other small garden debris but be aware that shredders are very noisy and slow. It will take a significant amount of time to generate a cubic yard of leaf mulch with this method. Your lawn mower will also shred the leaves though not as finely as a shredder. Ground up leaves will decompose more quickly in a compost pile. I typically do not mulch established perennial borders but leave the perennials up for the winter and let some fall leaves blow in. This has more of a natural (not manicured) look, which I prefer. Cutting back your perennials and top dressing the bed with a light layer of mulch will result in a neat and tidy appearance.

To calculate the amount of mulch needed for a bed, first convert all measurements to feet. One foot equals 12 inches. To figure the square feet of a bed, multiply the length of the bed times the width. To convert the depth of mulch to feet, divide the inches of mulch you intend to apply by 12. If your mulch is to be 1-inch deep, take 1 inch divided by 12. This gives you a .08 foot depth of mulch. Use the following formula to calculate the amount of mulch needed to cover a bed that is 18 feet wide by 37 feet long with 1 inch of mulch. Eighteen feet times 37 feet equals 666 square feet of bed space. One inch divided by 12 inches equals .08 feet. Six hundred sixty six square feet times .08 feet of mulch equals 53 cubic feet of mulch. One cubic yard of mulch is 27 cubic feet so divide 53 cubic feet by 27. Your order should be 2 cubic yards of mulch.

Bagged mulch comes in different sizes - typically 2 or 3 cubic foot bags and works well for small beds. For the bed above, you would divide the 53 cubic feet of mulch required by the amount of mulch in the bag - 53 cubic feet divided by 3 cubic feet per bag equals 18 bags and 53 cubic feet divided by 2 cubic feet per bag equals 37 bags of mulch. For this bed, it will be less expensive to buy the mulch in bulk.

• Remove frozen plants from containers and hanging baskets and replace them with evergreen boughs, branches with colorful berries and interesting seed heads from perennials and ornamental grasses.

Garden centers will have lots of options to choose from for decorating your containers if you do not have materials available in your garden. Push ends of the stems into the growing medium in the container to support the branches.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.