Winterizing your garden!

Scott: Hey Sylvania, it’s our last gardening article for the season, but no tears just yet! We have one more collection of thoughts to share. Mike, what are we discussing in this issue?
Mike: Well Mr. fourth-year rookie gardener … how about winterizing your garden?
Scott: Sounds like a winner. Let’s get started.
Mike: Ya’ know … the more we do to clean out or put our garden, lawn and landscape to bed for the winter, the more damage our efforts do to our property and its environment. For instance, when we clear our landscape, while making it appear manicured, we are actually taking away everything we need for a good head start next year. 
Let’s start with our lawn. Instead of constantly raking the leaves, why not alternate weekly raking with mulching when mowing? I’m not suggesting you allow your leaves to pile up, suffocating your grass. But instead of bringing them to the curb, you mulch them so fine that we are reinstituting this year’s organic nutrients and micronutrients into our soil for the benefit of next season’s growth. I believe that we will notice the positives of doing so with how well they rebound next spring.
Now for our flowerbeds and landscaping. Scott, did you know that leaving some leaves, left-over perennial flower seed heads and debris in our landscape is beneficial to the survival of next year’s plant growth? Pollinators, such as bees, moths and other insects will hibernate through the winter in the organic debris. Wait until mid-April, when the temps are warm consistently, to spring clean beds, allowing pollinators to wake up and leave before we remove their protective coverings.
Now … vegetable gardens. Cut down all sunflower and sweet corn stalks. The stalks won’t decompose fast enough to benefit next year’s garden. Tie the stalks together and use them for outdoor decoration. Save the flower heads to feed the overwintering birds and squirrels. Mulch all dead vegetation such as tomatoes, beans, cucumber debris, etcetera … and leave it lay on top of the remaining garden bed to be tilled under next season. It wouldn’t hurt to purchase some clover seed and throw it into the bed also. The clover will reincorporate an essential nutrient called NITROGEN to your garden. All of this will help your gardening for next year. 
Scott: Tool wise, I keep our garden center hand tools in sand. I took an oval planter and filled it with sand. I then squirted the sand with a bunch of 3in1 oil, mixed it up and stuck cleaned-up pruners in it. The oiled sand keeps them lubricated after every use, plus the abrasive sand knocks off plant parts from the pruning session. If you keep your small tools in a mailbox spread throughout your yard, make sure they get a good cleaning too. But maybe wait until springtime to sharpen them. The reason… well you know in March you’ll have ants in your pants, that gardener’s itch to do something and you can sharpen your tools then.
Mike: It’s been a pleasure passing along our tidbits through the Sylvania Advantage, see you next year!