It’s a great time of year to celebrate harvest, the bounty 
of another growing season. A time to decorate for fall and start thinking about autumn and winter preparation for your garden here in the southern part of Wisconsin.
Fall containers, pumpkin stacks and lanterns filled with mini pumpkins of gourds are simple ways to decorate for the season.
October is also the time when most gardens in southern Wisconsin begin to go dormant and fall cleanup can begin.
I like to start before the first frost. In Madison, we generally see a light frost anytime after September 27th. In 2015 we didn’t have our first hard, killing frost until early November.
I cut most perennials to the ground and haul plant matter away for compost. Shrubs, such as hydrangea paniculata, should be pruned in the fall as well.