Fall gardening: preparation tips from UBC horticulturalist Egan Davis

After a dry summer that was hard on plants, many people are getting their gardens ready for the winter so that their specimens will be strong next spring.

But University of B.C. horticulturalist Egan Davis says gardeners should resist the temptation to cut back their perennials and rake leaves off their beds.

"Fall clean up is actually one of the most detrimental things you can do in your garden," said Davis, who is the chief educator in the UBC Horticulture Training Program at the UBC Botanical Garden.

"The concept of cleaning up the garden, getting it ready for fall, is an aesthetic thing, and it's nice to adopt a mind-set of being okay with things being ... untidy," he said.

Davis shared some of his winter preparation tips with North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher.

1. Don't clean up too much

Davis recommends leaving plants alone until spring.

"A trick that I like to do in the garden — when you have garden detritus and its upright and standing and its persisted through to March — is take some hedge shears in the spring and start from the top of the plants and clip them into little pieces and just let them fall and lie where they are."

Davis said some plants like roses can be cut back, so they don't get blown around in winter, but doesn't suggest cutting back many other plants: "If in doubt, just leave it alone."

However, for those who are concerned about keeping garden beds and plants tidy in high-profile areas, they could put down mulch.

"Put a nice mulch that's dark in colour by your front door, but for the rest of it I just like the idea of leaving it all up."

2. Don't leave soil exposed

"Soil exposed through the winter can be so easily damaged," he said.

"When there's rain on bare soil ... the soil structure gets destroyed, you get erosion, and you're left with a cakey surface."

"Nowhere in nature do you actually see bare, exposed soil, it's either going to be covered with some plant detritus, or rocks or grasses...otherwise soil just gets damaged and washed away, so it's important to either mulch or allow plants to cover the soil."

3. Plant native species that flower through the winter

One plant Davis recommends is Seablush, which is native to Vancouver Island.

"It's actually germinating now, will flower in the spring, but all through the winter it grows and covers those bare patches of soil. It protects the soil, [and] puts carbon into the soil through the winter time."

He said poached egg plant (limnanthes douglasii) also grows through the winter and flowers in spring.

"Those two plants actually then die, set their seeds and die, and allow space for your spring and summer plants to grow through the season."

To hear the full interview with Egan Davis listen to the audio labelled: Tips for getting your garden ready for winter, from an expert horticulturalist