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Frost is Coming: Here's Your Last Chance Fall Checklist
Plus stunning photographs and a free sticker
Ken Welch
October 16, 2025
Last Chance Fall Garden Checklist
Each morning, the trees shower the sky with increasingly vibrant hues of yellow, orange, red, and purple. It’s the time of year where there is an urgency to prepare the Midwest garden for Winter before the first frost hits. I live in zone 5a, which means we should have our first frost any day now. Some of you will have a bit more time than me to prepare. This guide will lay out some tasks that you can check off as you go, and will let you know what can wait until Spring.
To-Do Before Winter:
Harvest the last of your garden by gathering tomatoes, peppers, and herbs before frost.
Bring tender plants inside before it gets too cold. Houseplants, tropical water lilies, and tender perennials need your help here.
Save your best seeds and label them. This is the secret to thrifty and climate resilient gardening.
Plant bulbs for Spring and you’ll thank me when they cure your seasonal depression as they burst from the soil next year.
Plant garlic now because it makes every dish taste delicious.
Add compost to beds to nourish the soil. Time to make use of your kitchen scraps that you’ve been cooking in your pile all year.
Mulch new plantings to help them survive their first Winter.
Drain hoses and rain barrels and turn off the water to the outside.
Set up feeders and fill them to keep the soul happy.
Establish a compost or leaf mold pile if you don’t have one already.
Document your garden with photos so you can rejoice in your hard work. It’s so easy to forget what the spaces looked like when you started.
Weed one last time before the season is done.
Organize your shed or garage and clean those gutters for it’s perfect weather to do so.
Clean / sharpen tools and take inventory. You’ll know what lost tools to add to your wish list this year.
Spend a night outside by a fire in your garden with the last sounds of Autumn.
To Don’ts - What to Leave Until Spring:
Leave your leaves on your lawn and garden beds. Many insects such as Luna Moths rely on this to overwinter, and birds forage for insects here through the Winter. It also feeds the soil with organic matter.
Don’t cut back perennials as many native bees shelter in the stems over winter, and gold finches eat the seed from coneflowers. It also looks much better in my opinion as winter interest.
Let plants drop their seed this is important for biennials and milkweed. Enjoy your new volunteers next Spring.
Ken’s Weekend Almanac
Embrace change as the trees begin to drop their leaves. Often blending into the background, now is a time when the perennials go to seed and the trees radiate beauty.
Cook with Cucurbit, which is a fancy way of saying gourds. It’s a delectable time of year thanks to the squash from our gardens.
Plotter’s Commons:
What are you doing this weekend from the list? Just reply to this email as I’d love to hear from you.
I need your help to grow this newsletter. If you can get a friend to sign up, then let me know and I will mail you a free sticker!
Community Board
Read: A Natural History of Empty Lots, by Christopher Brown is the memoir of vacant lots. I’m excited to read this one.
Night of 1000 Jack-O-Lanterns, Chicago Botanic Garden, buy tickets in advance for this one. Gardens come alive at night this time of year.
Dark Forest, Powell Gardens, Near Kansas City, MO, This sort of supernatural fantasy is right up my dark and winding alley.
Written for 133 beautiful readers. 💌
This newsletter grows best by word of mouth. Forward The Plot to your friend who is always in the garden!
Until next Thursday,
Ken Welch
Ken Welch is a horticulturist and research professional at UW–Madison. He’s drawn to native ecosystems, community gardens, and helping others grow confidence in their craft.
