Warm fall allows more time for garden cleanup

It has been a warm fall season so far and I am enjoying working in my garden. There is no frost in the weather forecast, so I suspect frost will be later than usual this year.

When a killing frost finally occurs, remove dead plant debris from annual and vegetable beds. I aim for winter interest in my garden, so I do not cut back my perennials in the fall.

Sanitation is especially important if you have had disease problems in your planting beds. Remove all diseased foliage or fruits and do not add affected materials to your compost pile, since most home compost piles do not get hot enough to kill disease organisms.

Buckthorn is an invasive tree that is common throughout the Chicago area. It tends to hold green leaves later than other deciduous trees in fall so it is easy to spot now. Cut buckthorn plants to ground level and quickly treat the stump with an herbicide to kill the root system. Smaller trees can be dug out with a sharp spade.

Shredded leaves make good mulch for garden beds. For serious gardeners, a shredder can be rented. They are very noisy, so be sure to use ear and eye protection when shredding leaves. Using a shredder is a time-consuming process and results in finer leaf mulch. For the average gardener, a lawn mower with a bag to catch the leaves is adequate for this job. The mower doesn’t cut the leaves as finely as a shredder but works a lot faster. Ground-up leaves also decompose more quickly if you use them in a compost pile. Shredded leaf mulch can also be purchased from garden centers.

In most garden situations, tree wrap is not needed for newly planted trees. If used, it should be removed within six months to a year at most. Tree wrap is used in certain areas of the Chicago Botanic Garden to help protect bark from feeding by rabbits and voles during the winter. These trees are wrapped in October and November and the wrap is removed in April. Both paper and burlap tree wrap work well. When using paper tree wrap, place the printed side against the trunk so it cannot be seen when wrapping is completed. Start the wrap at the bottom of the trunk and finish at the top.

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