There are several must-do items that you must check off your to-do list before winter rolls around. Here are 15 ways to winterize your garden – some of these steps might be optional for you, but others should be non-negotiable.

1. Remove and Store Your Plant Supports

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2. Clean up the Leaves

3. Clean and Store Containers

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4. Replenish Your Garden Beds

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5. Completely Shut Off Any Outdoor Taps and Hoses

6. Mulch Your Garden

What fiberglass is for your house, mulch is for your garden. If you have any root crops that are particularly vulnerable to frost, just a few inches of this great substance is enough to protect them from perishing during a prolonged winter cold snap.

7. Bring Tender, Fragile Plants Inside

Plants, flowers, and herbs like coleus and hibiscus are best kept inside if you want to give them a chance for survival. Before you do so, debug and clean the plants with neem oil or insecticidal soap to avoid bringing in any unwanted pests. And hey, now you have some attractive houseplants for the time being.

8. Clean-up Your Garden Shed (Or Wherever You Store Garden Supplies)

If you plan on bringing in outdoor furniture, yard work tools, or anything else you don’t plan on using during the winter, you probably would rather your precious items not be cluttered and clumsily stacked. To make organization easy, simply get rid of any supplies such as rusty trowels, plastic trays, and old pots so that your shed contains only the things you need.

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9. Plant Your Perennials

Planting? In winter? As long as you don’t forget to follow up planting with a comfy layer of mulch, putting bulbs in the ground before winter gives plants like tulips and lilies a chance to bloom early come spring, providing your yard with some serendipitous color.

10. Extract Your Tubers and Big Bulbs

Simply cut the plant a few inches above the soil to signal the crop to sprout new eyes. Then, dig around it to carefully remove it from the soil, allow it to dry, and place it in a plastic bag with sawdust and a few holes. It might seem like you’re ripping the pitiful plant from its cozy home in the soil, but you’re actually saving it from deadly frost so that it may once again prosper.

11. Store Your Tools

If you aren’t concerned with organization, then you should at least take the time to gather your tools to assess if anything is damaged or needs to be replaced, as well as putting them in enclosed storage to protect them from the elements while they’re not in use.

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12. Remove Weeds

Unfortunately for you and your garden, weeds can be particularly hardy. Take them out now, roots included, and destroy – err, dispose of them properly, so they aren’t the first things to pop up in your garden come spring.

13. Compost Summer Annuals

They won’t survive winter and you can’t bring them inside, so what can you do? Simply compost them so that nothing goes to waste.

14. Protect New Perennials

Along with trees and shrubs, your perennials have no choice but to stick it out through the cold. Young plants are vulnerable, so protect them with whatever you can – landscape fabric, row covers – so that they are protected against snow and harsh winter winds.

15. Get Your Compost. Composting.

Compost is the single most valuable plant food in existence, along with being highly sustainable and hassle-free. Don’t compromise the quality of your garden by buying chemical fertilizers right away because you have few options. Go ahead and get a sizeable compost pile going so that you have everything you need to nourish your plants throughout the growing season.