KUSA — After the trauma from the first hard frost wears off, it's possible to find beauty in the waning season.
Many perennials, shrubs and trees display lovely fall color and texture. Notable among the perennials are 'Autumn Joy' sedum and ornamental grasses. Red hips adorn shrub roses. The leaves of many roses have hardly been damaged.
Don't mess with your roses now. Spring is the time to prune them back. Meanwhile, protect the roses from the coming cold weather. Mound soil around the bases of hybrid tea roses. The soil with protect the graft, which is the most vulnerable part of the plant.
Fall isn't the time to most any pruning. Save all that until March and April. Enjoy the structure and seed heads of your plants all winter. If you have planted a larch or bald cypress, don't despair when they drop their needles. Although these trees are conifers, they're not evergreens. They always shed their needles in fall. There are stories of workers cutting down specimens because they thought they were dead.
Please don't rake leaves and send them to the dump. Leaves are the foundation of fertile soil. Leave them where the fall in beds and borders. Rake those on paths or laws and compost them. Their decomposition will benefit the health of your garden for years to come.