It's not over yet, but you can see the end of the gardening season from here. If you're embarrassed because you haven't cut back your perennials, you might be surprised to hear that some of our garden gurus haven't, either -- and they're proud to admit it.
We checked in with three top gardeners in the Twin Cities to see what they're doing to get their gardens ready for winter. Our experts are: Don Engebretson, author of five garden books, who also runs the Renegade Gardener website; longtime garden writer Lynn Steiner, whose most recent book is "Landscaping With Native Plants of Minnesota," and Mike Heger, garden author, lecturer and owner of Ambergate Gardens in Chaska.
DID YOU PLANT BULBS?
Don Engebretson: Not this year. But to me a lily in bloom is the most beautiful plant on Earth.
Lynn Steiner: No, I don't really plant a lot of bulbs. Aside from some species tulips, I haven't had much luck with bulbs.
Mike Heger: We added a couple of martagon lilies, but other than that, we're really set in the bulb department.
DO YOU CUT BACK YOUR GARDEN IN FALL? Don: I'm firmly in the camp of not cutting anything down. I just use a light rake and a hedge clipper to clean up in spring.
Lynn: I didn't cut back anything. Normally, I would cut back a few things that are icky and squishy in the spring, but I had too much going on this year.
Mike: My philosophy is unless I've had some serious disease issues, I don't cut anything back in fall. If you cut, you have to mulch because what you have is exposed [plant] crowns.
