Before you pluck and rake, consider wildlife, the health of your plants and your own right to relax. Here are some reasons to leave your fall garden standing.

Why Work When It’s Cold?

We are all tired, so leave the garden alone. Plus it’s getting cold out. Do you really want to be outside working? Isn’t there a football game on or some pumpkin-spice latte to savor? Let the garden be for your own health and sanity.

Wildlife is Hibernating

Lots and lots of insects and frogs, and who knows what else, are out there in your garden overwintering in leaf litter, on twigs, even in the top layer of soil. What happens when you “clean up” the leaves and chop down the plants? You might be tossing out a black swallowtail chrysalis or a mantis egg case, or stepping on a mourning cloak butterfly.

Protect Your Plants

Leaving the perennials standing will help them gather snow. That snow in turn will insulate the roots when it gets really cold and also add moisture to the soil. That’s a double win for low-maintenance gardening. Viva snow!

Discover a New Dimension

You won’t want to miss frosty mornings when every leaf, stem and seed head is accented with fascinating patterns of silvery shadows — halos of ice and snow that make the garden exquisite. And did you know that a snowflake is a fractal — a mathematical equation — just like coastlines, mountain ranges, trees, sunflowers and even the human circulatory system?

Everything in nature can be mapped out with math, and nowhere is that more obvious than with a winter frost. Take your kids outside and expose them to — math and nature.

Enjoy New Neighbors

Leaving up your plants welcomes all sorts of wildlife you’d never see, even though they’re quite common. What a cure for seasonal affective disorder.

Robin Will Stop by and Surprise You

Did you know there are robins around in winter? They tend to roost in groups, going about only when thirsty or hungry. A heated birdbath is great, but so are all of those fermenting berries on shrubs and trees. Lots of other songbirds will also be enjoying seeds from standing perennial cover, too.

Gardens Thrive in All Four Seasons

When the first spring blooms arise, you won’t feel like you missed them, because so much was going on in your garden all winter long — leaving the plants up makes winter seem shorter. Those first spring flowers won’t seem as much like a relief as a confirmation that a garden never really sleeps, and you’ll be seeing that firsthand in all four seasons.

“Winter interest” is a landscape term that means there’s something beautiful to look at during the cold season. Usually, that means grasses or dogwoods, but any old perennial will do. Winter interest isn’t just for us, though; it’s for birds, butterflies, frogs and soil microbes munching on leaves and making the garden healthier for summer. A lot will be going on if you leave the garden up until a spring cut-down — get out there and enjoy it this winter!

You can design your garden to feel like a secluded backyard retreat, a world apart from the hustle of daily life

No matter where you live — in the heart of a big city or down a quiet lane — there’s an opportunity to make your yard or balcony feel like a secret, secluded space. The best feel private and have a certain magic about them, a sense of being removed from daily life and transported to another place. 

A Hidden Entrance

Gates and entryways are important features in any garden, but they are essential for secret gardens. They define a threshold — marking the passage from one garden area to a private space. Create a sense of mystery about what lies beyond with an entrance that blocks the inner garden from view. A magical garden door, a vine-draped wooden gate for example would work well to define the entrance of a secret garden and encourage visitors to leave daily stresses at the door. The gate should obscure the garden behind it — adding mystery and piquing curiosity.

An Inviting Destination

Inside, provide a seating area that draws in visitors. It can be as simple as a pair of chairs pulled up to a cafe table or a bench drawn under a shade tree. If the seating area is partially obscured by foliage or fencing, it only adds to the feeling of discovery.

Screening and Hedges for Privacy

Nothing breaks the spell of a secret garden like seeing the blank faces of adjacent buildings or looking straight into a neighbor’s windows. Use fences, hedges and trees with leafy canopies for screening. Alternatively, use screens to create private areas within a garden, such as a sheltered seating or dining nook.

Loose, Naturalistic Plantings

Secret gardens can take on any shape or style, but those that are slightly less manicured and a bit more wild have a certain romance. Get the naturalistic look by planting billowing grasses, carefree flowering perennials and native plants of all types. For more formality, balance loose plant forms with sheared hedges, a patch of mowed lawn or a few clipped shrubs for structure.

To create a slightly wild, secret garden feeling in urban yards where you have limited bed space, plant a vine in the ground or a large container. Let a trailing climber, such as wisteria, honeysuckle or a climbing rose, ramble up the sides of buildings and cloak the area with foliage and flowers.

Disappearing Pathways

Use a steppingstone path or a winding walkway to draw visitors into the garden. The trick to evoking a feeling of anticipation: Leave the destination hidden.

An Enclosed Space

In more open landscapes, adding a sheltered seating area or a small hedged-in garden can help balance a feeling of openness with one of privacy and seclusion. It’s adding a secret garden within a garden, so to speak.

A Connection With Nature

Welcome bees, butterflies, birds and other small creatures to your secret garden by offering sources for food and water, and areas for shelter. Choose native plants and others that support pollinators. Allow plants to go to seed — which can become food for birds in fall and winter.

Welcoming these connections with wildlife may give new meaning to your experience with the garden.

Seasonal Change

Tap into nature’s own seasonal magic — the emergence of new bulbs in spring and leaves changing from green to red, orange and gold in fall — by choosing some plants for recurrent interest in your secret garden.

If you don’t want to undertake larger-scale planting projects like adding deciduous trees, consider planting one or two containers for seasonal color. Plants like tulips, daffodils and other bulbs, summer annuals and perennials, Mediterranean herbs, and small-scale Japanese maples grow well in containers.

Objects With Meaning

Add a thoughtful object to the landscape to make a secret garden feel more like your own. Ordinary objects with personal meaning, such as an interesting rock picked up at a special beach, may remind you of a favorite trip or childhood memory. Historical objects or those with spiritual meaning can bring greater depth to the garden.

Whatever you choose, consider partially concealing the object within garden beds or around the bend in a path to add an element of discovery.

Dreamy Landscape Lighting

Subtle, glowing landscape lighting makes a secret garden feel like a magical retreat. Select lights that are small and subdued, rather than bright flood lights — we’re going for the look of fairy lights. Apart from providing ambience, lights can be practical too — extending the time you can enjoy being out of doors, and illuminating pathways and stairs for safety.

Refreshing your patio with new furniture, decor or color automatically brightens the space and draws you into it. The good news is that giving your existing patio an upgrade doesn’t need to take a whole lot of time or money. Instead, you can tackle many updates in a day or a weekend, and most apply to patios of all styles. 

Change Things Up With Color

Give your patio more color with painted walls or colorful mounted or freestanding panels. 

Painting projects can usually be finished in a day or two, depending on the size of the space and the amount of prep needed. A simple but colorful panel or screen will take even less time. Look for landscape screens made of weatherproof materials such as metal, wood, glass, fiberglass, resin or concrete to perk up the space.

You can also add color with smaller decorative pieces such as pillows, throws or outdoor serving ware that will brighten the space now and can also transition with the seasons.

Add Art

Create immediate impact with a large-scale art piece. Look for art created expressly for outdoor use to be sure it will work. Wood, metal, glass, fiberglass and resin can handle the elements. Canvas can be treated to make it more weather-resistant.

For the best long-term results, keep art out of direct sunlight and rain as much as possible. Consider bringing it inside during the winter months. Another option is to get something temporary and enjoy it while it lasts.

Tuck In a Daybed

Find a corner for a daybed that will give you a place to relax and maybe even catch an afternoon nap. While a traditional chaise lounge or outdoor sofa can fit the bill, there’s something particularly inviting about a daybed’s extra lounging depth. Add plenty of cushions and maybe a light throw to help you nest.

Choose a daybed designed for outdoor use and furnish it with weather-resistant cushions and pillows or plan to cover the piece when rain threatens. You can set it under an overhang or add a nearby umbrella or shade cloth to keep you from getting too hot.

Create Shade

Give yourself some protection from the hot afternoon, or visually divide your patio into “rooms” with a shade structure. A simple umbrella will provide direct shade; larger versions will cover more area, and a tilt feature lets you adapt to the sun’s arc. A shade cloth strung between three or four points is another easy way to gain some shade.

A fabric gazebo does double duty, providing sun protection during the day and then becoming a relaxing outdoor living room at night. You can get them with or without sides. Most fabric gazebos have metal supports and fabric made from canvas, polyester or outdoor acrylic fabric. They’re easy to install; just be sure to anchor them securely, especially in windy areas.

Fill In With Potted Plants

Use your patio to show off your favorite plants or landscape style — from a tropical-themed vibe to an homage to succulents or a cheerful collection of favorite annuals and perennials. You’ll gain additional gardening space, soften the hardscape and enjoy favorite plants up close.

Group similar plants in different size planters to fill a corner or line a row of matching plants and planters to outline the edge of the patio. You can also add interest and dimension with a living wall or other vertical garden. Consider installing one large frame designed to hold a mix of plants or mount wall planters at various heights for a similar look. If you don’t have a nearby wall, you might be able to add small patio trees in containers to give you a lush feel.

Plants in containers, especially hanging plants, will dry out more quickly than those in the ground. Be prepared to water more often.

Screen for Privacy

A landscape screen provides a sense of enclosure and privacy. Even the simplest screen will turn your open patio into a defined and separate space. Screens come in an amazing variety of sizes and materials — everything from wood and wood composites to metal, fiberglass, resin, glass and even concrete.

Upgrade Your Lighting

Hang lanterns or pendants from an overhead beam to add flair to your patio’s lighting. Battery-operated lighting means you don’t have to deal with wiring and outlets.

If overhead lighting isn’t viable for your space, scatter lanterns or outdoor lamps around the patio. You can place them on tables, tuck them into planters or set them on the patio floor to create a welcoming atmosphere during the evening hours.

If your lights have an open flame, place them in a safe spot where they won’t be easily brushed against or tipped over and where the flame can’t ignite your decor or furnishings. Be sure to extinguish any candles before you leave the patio.

Install a Focal Point

Consider installing a permanent feature center stage in your space. You can place it over the existing paving or remove part of the surface to create a base.

An oversize planter set into the middle of a patio makes a bold statement that will draw people into the space. Set it where you want on a level surface. The weight of the soil and plant will help keep it in place.

Fountains are more complicated to install. Depending on the type of fountain, you may have to plan for a water reservoir below the fountain itself and an electrical outlet nearby.

If that’s more involved than you want, consider moving the fountain to a corner of the patio. Set the reservoir on the surface of the patio, surround it with a mix of container plants to hide the sides and place the fountain in the center. Add pebbles on top of the reservoir and run the cord behind the fountain and along a wall to an outlet.

Choose a Decorative Accent

Add a decorative note to floors, tables and counters or posts and beams with outdoor tile. If tiling isn’t possible for your patio, consider adding decorative contrast with paint.

Do a Deep Clean

Sometimes, the simplest approach is also the most rewarding. Patio surfaces are designed to take a lot of wear and tear, so you may not notice when they’re not looking quite as pristine as they once were.

To keep patios looking their best, take a day to give the space a good cleaning. Clear off the moveable furnishings, sweep the floor well and then wash or treat the surface with the appropriate cleanser. Often, a mix of warm water and dish detergent, plus a sturdy broom, is sufficient. Let it dry, then put everything back in place.

While you’re at it, clean any cushions and patio furnishings that have become a bit grungy or stained. Usually scrubbing items with a solution of warm water and dish detergent, then rinsing them and letting them dry, is all that’s needed. You may have to work a bit to get off stubborn stains, but the clean look will be worth it.

In spring, gardens burst into life. Weeds do too, but rather than waging an all-out war, we can be more effective when we understand the roles they play in our ecosystem.

Understanding Weeds

A weed is any unwanted plant that grows in our gardens. Weeds can belong to any branch of the plant family, whether grasses or trees, annuals or perennials. They range from native species to invasive plants to intentionally planted flowers and vegetables that got out of hand. The same plant can be desirable in one location and a “weed” in another. Anyone who’s planted mint or bamboo without using a container will experience the phenomenon of a classic garden plant spreading to become what could well be considered a weed.

Weeds vary by geographic location, and include dandelions which can be found just about everywhere. What they share is their incredible resilience. They often spread by several means: seeds, roots and runners. They’re survivors.

Although most gardeners consider weeds to be unsightly, these scrappy plants can have beneficial properties. Many weeds, like the dandelions, are edible. Be sure to correctly identify weeds before eating them; understand safe preparation, including which parts of the plant are edible; and confirm that they grew in uncontaminated soil free from herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals.

Some weeds can also provide important food sources to garden pollinators. Clover is a favorite nectar source of bees. Bronze fennel and Queen Anne’s lace attract predatory wasps and flies, as well as ladybugs, which prey on garden pests such as aphids.

What Weeds Tell You

Strange as it may seem, weeds can improve soil health or indicate a soil problem that needs to be corrected. Folklore provides some interesting information about what weeds have to say about our soil.

Weeds in the legume family, such as vetch and clover, are “nitrogen fixers.” They form helpful relationships with soil bacteria that make nitrogen, one of the most important plant nutrients available in the soil. Folklore has it that if you see a lot of leguminous weeds, it means that you have nitrogen-poor soil where other plants won’t thrive. Over time, the nitrogen-fixing properties of these plants can help to improve soil quality. In fact, clover and vetch are often grown as “cover crops” to improve soil.

Weeds with deep taproots, like dandelions, are often found in compacted soil — think of the cracks between sidewalk pavers. These weeds can indicate soil that’s in need of aeration. Similarly, creeping buttercups often thrive in heavy soil that lacks organic matter.

These “indicator” species can tell us a lot about the health of our soil. If you have a persistent weed problem, identify the species and do some research. You might be surprised by how much you learn.

Preventing And Removing Weeds

While weeds can teach us a lot about the health of our gardens, we still need to keep them in check — especially in vegetable gardens, where tender crops can easily be crowded out by fast-growing weeds. While it’s impossible to prevent all weeds, you can use a few simple strategies to keep them to a reasonable amount without breaking your back or using toxic chemicals.

Build rich soil. Many weeds thrive in poor, compacted or disturbed soil, and enriching your soil can do wonders to reduce weeds. For vegetable gardens, constructing raised beds at least 12 inches tall and filling them with high-quality, weed-free garden soil is one of the quickest ways to prevent the vast majority of weeds. When building a new raised bed, line the bottom of your planting area with a couple of layers of corrugated cardboard, flattened boxes work well, before adding the soil. This layer will help to smother all but the most intrepid weeds. Bonus: The fluffy, highly aerated soil in raised beds makes it easier to remove weeds when they do sprout.

Once your soil is in place, take care not to disturb it too much. Tilling or turning soil over can expose buried weed seeds. When adding compost, rake it into the surface of your bed rather than digging it under. The exception is when adding composted manure which should be dug under in vegetable beds.

Weed weekly. The smaller the weed, the easier it is to get rid of. The key is to do some regular maintenance and remove weeds while they’re still small. If you’re growing vegetables in raised beds, weed seedlings can usually be plucked out with gloved fingers. Doing so is much easier than the strenuous work of digging out full-size dandelions. Furthermore, removing weeds while they’re young will help to prevent them from going to seed and spreading further.

Comb your garden for weeds once per week. Keep a bucket at hand while you work to make cleanup easy. You won’t get every single weed — don’t even try — but do your best to remove the bulk of them. To save your back, kneel or squat beside your beds rather than bending at the waist. Knee pads or a stool can be helpful for this purpose.

Get the roots. Be sure to remove the whole plant, especially if you’re removing full-size weeds. This is easier said than done, but it’s important because sneaky weeds can multiply from the broken ends of roots. When removing taproot weeds like dandelions and comfrey, which produce long central roots, be sure to dig deeply using a weeding tool or shovel. For weeds with fibrous roots, like buttercups, dig widely around the whole plant.

Don’t give them space. As the saying goes, nature hates a vacuum. Rather than leaving bare patches of soil, use vegetable garden-friendly organic mulches such as straw or leaves. In addition to keeping weeds at bay, mulch is a great way to conserve water by reducing evaporation.

Try solarizing or smothering weeds. If weeds are a serious problem in your garden, you may need to resort to more drastic measures. Consider solarizing or smothering your soil, techniques that starve weeds of oxygen over a period of several weeks. Doing this will put your beds out of commission for several weeks, but it’s well worth it if you have a persistent weed problem that makes gardening difficult.

Disposing of Weeds

What do you do with the weeds you’ve pulled up? Experienced composters, who know that their compost piles reach temperatures high enough to kill weed seeds and roots, can add weeds to their compost piles. However, for many home gardeners, composting weeds can potentially propagate the problem by spreading weed seeds when the compost is reintroduced to the garden.

Instead, consider including weeds in “compost tea.” There are two main approaches to making compost tea: nonaerated and aerated. Nonaerated tea is made by simply filling a clean garbage can with your tea-making materials of choice and covering them with water, usually for several weeks. The resulting liquid will provide a useful — though quite smelly —fertilizer for your garden. Aerated compost tea involves the use of an aquarium aerator or frequent stirring and produces a less smelly result, in less time.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a convenient option, many cities provide regular curbside pickup of garden waste, including weeds. In most cases, this garden waste is composted at temperatures high enough to kill weeds and sold back to the community or used in public projects.

Weeds aren’t evil, even if they seem that way. Take a moment to admire the resilience of these tough plants and learn what they might have to teach you. By building good soil and removing weeds regularly, you can keep weeds to a minimum.

As with any large-scale renovation, the costs of a landscape remodel can quickly add up. With the right design moves and decisions to stretch your budget, you can pull off the look and feel of your dream garden without letting the budget get out of hand. But where it can make sense to save — without compromising quality or style — may not always be where you’d expect.

Here are some of the best places to save money on a landscape redesign.

Simplify Your Wish List

It’s easy to get carried away when it comes to creating your dream landscape wish list, with elements from patios to outdoor kitchens and pools to fire pits, but costs quickly add up. Focus on the elements you really want and will use often. To save money, scale things back or take out a few features that you could add over time.

Tip: Having a professionally drawn site plan in place will help ensure that you won’t have to disturb an improved area when installing new features at a later stage.

Choose Hardworking, Less Expensive Materials

Hardscape — hard surfaces such as pathways, pavers and patios — is often one of the biggest “budget eaters” in a landscape remodel, as the materials and installation can both be expensive. If you’re looking for ways to help rein in your budget, resilient but less expensive hardscape materials can fill in, either temporarily or permanently.

For example use a mix of gravel and pavers instead of cut stone for a front patio and walkway as a cost-saving measure. Gravel can be an excellent permanent low-cost alternative to cut stone. Use a mix of gravel and concrete or precast pavers to create pads for furniture. Regardless of the material you choose, it pays off to invest in proper professional installation.

Tip: If you need to be able to roll a wheelchair, walker or stroller over your main path, consider gravel as a cost-saving material for secondary paths or patios instead.

Use What You Already Have

While it’s tempting to want to rip out everything and start with a clean slate, it’s better to pause and take stock of what you have. Repurposing existing plants and materials — especially long-lasting, high-quality ones — can help save your budget and enhance your design.

Use existing pavers, relocating established plants or painting a dated item is worth the investment for a relatively low cost.

Select Local and Salvaged Materials

If you don’t have existing elements that can be repurposed, chances are someone in your community might. Check with local salvage yards and material warehouses. You may be able to score a pallet of bricks for a patio or redwood boards for a fence at a fraction of the price of purchasing them new.

If you’re purchasing new materials such as gravel, wood or cut stone, ask which ones come from your local region. They can often be more affordable than materials that have been transported from elsewhere, and can help your new garden fit in with the natural tones of the area. Ask the landscape designer or architect you’re working with if local materials could be prioritized.

Buy Plants Small

Sizing down plants to help with your budget. Plants can easily be purchased in smaller sizes, and they will grow to size over time. It’s smarter to invest in permanent elements like hardscape.

Even planted from small containers, many herbs, perennials, ground covers, ornamental grasses and vines will fill in quickly. Some shrubs, trees, cactuses and succulents can be slower to reach maturity, depending on the species. A few exceptions for which it can be worth the splurge on larger plants: one or two mature trees for dramatic impact and shrubs needed for screening.

Choose Perennials Over Annuals

If you’re looking for color in planting beds, perennials — plants that come back year after year — are a much better investment than annuals that need to be bought and replanted each season. Nurseries will often have end-of-season sales well-stocked with perennials in fall, which is a perfect time to plant.

Tip: Another way to score plants for less is at a plant swap. Communities will sometimes host plant swaps, generally in spring and summer, where you can bring plants of your own or cash to trade for or buy other potted plants.

Professionals can help you save money on plants: The retail nursery cost of a plant can often be one-third to double the cost of a plant purchased by a landscaper at a wholesale growing ground. This can also be true for soil amendments, fertilizers, gravel and mulch.

Depending on your plant knowledge, a professional may have a better understanding of plant spacing and depth, resulting in a better overall planting job.

Use High-Impact, Low-Cost Garden Accents

For permanent and high-use elements, it makes sense to choose the highest-quality materials and craftsmanship you can afford. For smaller decorative accents, this isn’t always the case.

Cute little garden details, like the obelisks, can make a big impact. Other low-investment, high-payoff exterior accents to try: chic house numbers or a standout mailbox.

Buy Containers at End-of-Season Sales

Picking up containers for potted plants at fall nursery sales, is something to look for. Stores will often cut prices by 50 percent or more to clear inventory at the end of the growing season. Stock up on large pots and planters for spring planting.

Design With Maintenance Costs in Mind

Once hardscape is installed and plants are in the ground, your costs going forward will be associated with maintenance. Some hardscape materials require more maintenance than others to continue to look good over time. Plants all require different levels of water and maintenance throughout the year to continue to thrive. It’s best to consider this now, when you’re just beginning your project, to design your plan accordingly.

In general, high-quality natural materials such as cut stone and flagstone for patios and walkways require minimal care when properly installed. Gravel and decomposed granite, on the other hand, need to be topped up every so often. Synthetic decking can save the cost of needing to seal a natural wood deck every few years.

For plants, your best bet for cutting down on water costs is to use native plants or those that grow well in your climate. Gardens composed of easy-care shrubs, ground covers and perennials require less care than those designed with high-maintenance annual flower beds or clipped topiary. Choose a style you have the time and budget to care for going forward. Skipping a traditional lawn can also offer major savings in terms of both water and maintenance.

Consider Phasing Your Project

For major landscape overhauls, installing the design in several phases can help in terms of budgeting. For phased projects, bring in a professional at the beginning to draw a complete site plan that will outline the overall design and how phases should be divided according to construction access. Think through everything that one might want to bury in the ground that will be useful or desired in the future. It is no fun to dig trenches or drill holes in finished surfaces.

Having a complete site plan guiding the construction process is likely to bring costs down and prevent work being done twice. For example, with proper planning between phases, a contractor could lay a foundation beneath a patio for a shade structure intended for later installation.