Cheyenne Botanic Gardens News and Events

End of growing season chores

Before it gets really cold, check the garage, storage shed and yard for a roundup of your tools, sprinklers and hoses.

•       Scrape the dirt off the tools and rub vegetable oil on the handles and blades to prevent rust and wood cracks.
•       Drain and store your sprinklers and hoses.
•       If water is left in plastic sprinklers, ice may form and crack them if they are stored where it gets below freezing. Don’t forget to bring in water timers too!
•       Check and clean out the gutters. This can prevent possible basement flooding.
•       Sweep your chimney to prevent a chimney fire. If you are comfortable getting up on and being up on your roof you can purchase a chimney sweep tool and do this yourself.
•       Rake up your leaves and compost them or use a blower/​vac to suck them up which also grinds them into a fine mulch that you can apply to your growing beds. You can also mow your leaves into tiny pieces with an electric or gas powered mower which makes a great soil amendment for your lawn.