When fall nights start to dip down toward a frost, gardeners know that the vegetable growing season is coming to an end.

Preparing your vegetable garden in the fall will help make your gardening chores easier for next seasons spring plantings.

Fall is the time to prepare perennial vegetables for winters cold temperatures. Remove dead stems and foliage to prevent the spread of disease and insects. Cover with mulch to prevent root damage.

If you will be tilling your garden before winter, leave plants in the soil and till the beds under with organic matter, like leaves and grass clippings.  Diseased plants should not be tilled in the garden. Toss them in the trash.

Leaves and plants that are tilled into the garden in the fall season will have time to compost and release valuable nutrients to the soil as well as improving soil structure.

Tilling your garden in the fall will not only add valuable nutrients to the soil but will also expose many insects, larvae and pupae to the winters cold conditions ending their life cycle. Covering your tilled garden with mulch will help prevent the soil from washing away and will keep down the winter weeds.

If you will not be tilling your garden until spring, remove all plants and put them in your compost pile. Any diseased plants should be tossed in the trash.

Wait until spring planting time to apply fertilizer to your garden. Applying fertilizer in the fall will only wash away before it’s time to plant your garden.