With winter fast approaching, your garden begins to lose its beautiful colour and life. Many decide to leave it as it is and clean up when the weather gets warmer but its best to clear the garden before winter kicks in.

Clearing up before will mean you are ahead of when the weather starts to get warmer, so it is ready for you to just walk out and enjoy the sun.

Here are a few tips to help you with cleaning your garden:

Flower Garden Clean Up – start with removing and composting any dead annual plants that will remain over winter, as they will not re grow again. Many perennials actually prefer to be left standing throughout the winter, for extra protection.
Woody Perennial Flowers & Plants – many shrubby plants with woody stems need to be back before winter, as they only bloom on new branches. These are pruned to limit winter damage and to encourage the plant to start sending out new flowering branches.
Evergreen and Semi-Evergreen Perennial Plants – some perennial plants will never quite go dormant, but they still need tidying up. This is the time to trim back the tattered foliage and encourage new growth to come in.
Ornamental Grasses – you can cut them back your ornamental grasses as soon as you can get to them. There is no need to wait for new growth.
Weeding and Composting – Early spring is the time to take action against weeds with some pro-active weeding. Damp soil makes it much easier to pull young weed seedlings. Most of what you clean up can go into your compost pile.

When you have finished cleaning the garden, you will end up with a lot of green waste. Many people tend to put the green waste with their household waste, which ends up in landfill. Green waste can be recycled for many things, so once you are done cleaning you can take the green waste to your local recycling centre or arrange for a collection service to take it off your hands.

Now start thinking about clearing your house, read our guide: House Clearance