From Judy Leheny
Getting ready for winter:
1. Throw your gardening gloves in the wash!
2. Take care of your tools. This is something that usually gets skipped but it is really important for your investment. Wash all the dirt off your tools and leave them in the sun to dry. If they have wood handles and you’re really serious, rub the handles with a little vaseline to nourish the wood.
3. After you have washed the tools, disconnect the hoses, tie them in circles so they don’t get tangled and put them in a frost-free place so that the water residue inside them doesn’t freeze and burst the hose. Disconnect the nozzle before storing; it can corrode on the hose connection and then you won’t be able to remove it.
4. When you plant your bulbs, put a small handful of bone meal in the bottom of the hole to nourish root formation.
5. Bring ceramic pots inside so they don’t crack in the frost; it’s okay to stack plastic ones outside.
6. Store birdseed in galvanized garbage cans in the garage so mice so don’t get at it.
7. Likewise, I discovered that mice are attracted to liquid fish fertilizer and punched tiny holes in the plastic container; keep it in the house or in a mouse-proof container.
8.Cut your geraniums back hard, shake off the dirt and store in a paper bag in a warm place. They’ll perk right back up in spring once you plant them and begin watering.
9. Dig up your dahlia and begonia tubers and winter them inside. Various ways of doing this on Google.
Hunker down for the winter and wait for the beautiful, colorful garden catalogues which are produced by teams of gardeners in greenhouses - not like the rest of us.