Southampton - The days are getting shorter and the temperature is dropping. It's time to get your garden ready for winter. A little care now will prepare your plants for their winter dormancy, in anticipation of their rebirth in spring. And cleaning up the garden now will leave you less work to do in spring, when you'll be wanting to plant seeds and kick the new season into gear. Here's a checklist of things to do as another gardening season winds down.

Pull The Annuals: Most of the summer annuals are finished now, and most of the rest will soon follow when frost descends (though some will hang on through a few frosts). So pull those annuals out of garden beds and borders, and from pots, planters and windowboxes. Toss all the healthy plants onto the compost pile (you do have a compost pile, don't you?); diseased plants and those harboring insects should go into the trash.

Solomon's Seal ready for cutting back. (Anne Halpin)

If the garden looks empty after that, and you yearn for some color as the weather turns colder, plant some pansies. Most garden centers have pansies for sale now, and they're a great addition to fall gardens. Pansies thrive in cool weather and though they'll die back eventually when winter sets in, they'll come back in early spring and brighten up your winter-weary garden.

Clean Out The Pots: When the annuals are out of the pots, dump out the potting mix (you can spread it in the garden). Wipe or brush any loose dirt out of the pots, and rinse them with a solution of one part liquid chlorine bleach to nine parts water. Rinse with clear water, let dry and then store the pots in the basement, garage or shed.

Big pots are heavy even when they're empty. Use a dolly or a large plastic plant saucer on wheels to move those.

If you've got large urns or tubs that are just too big and heavy to move, you may be able to leave them outdoors over winter. Fiberglass and wooden containers generally hold up well. Terra cotta pots are more problematic. Clay is porous and moisture seeps into their walls. In winter, freezing expands the water droplets and the pots flake and crack as the freezing water expands.

Some clay pots, handmade by expert potters or perhaps imported from Italy, are made of very dense clay or with techniques similar to those used by brick makers; these pots are weather resistant to varying degrees. But no clay pot is immune to freezing indefinitely. Glazed pots often hold up longer and better than unglazed containers, but none of them are bulletproof, especially if you leave some soil in them over the winter.

If you have to leave your big pots outdoors, you can increase the chances they'll survive winter intact by raising the pots up off the ground. Place wood blocks, bricks, or clay or ceramic "pot feet" (available at local nurseries and garden shops) to allow any moisture in them to drain off. Not watering after the first frost can also be helpful.

Perennials: Cut back perennials to a few inches above the ground. If you're a bird lover, you can leave some plants standing so their seedheads can provide some food for winter residents. Black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers and sunflowers are a few likely seed sources for birds.



Late bloomers like Russian sage (Perovskia) and Montauk daisies can be cut back now or in early spring.

Pull The Weeds: I know, I know, who wants to be pulling weeds at this time of year? Nobody. But it's worth doing. The weeds will keep growing until the ground starts to freeze, and going into winter with a relatively weed-free garden will delay the inevitable assault of the weeds in spring.

Deal With Bulbs: If you grew any tender bulbs this year - dahlias, gladiolus, tuberous begonias, cannas, colocasia - and you want to grow them again next year, dig them up and store them in a frost-free place like the basement or garage for the winter.

When you dig the bulbs, spread them out on newspapers until the soil clinging to them dries out and the foliage turns dry and papery. Then cut off the leaves a bit above the neck of the bulb, and pack the bulbs in single layers between sheets of newspaper or in a box of slightly damp peat moss. Check them periodically over the winter for signs of mold or rot (soft spots) or conversely, for shriveling. Mist shriveled bulbs to keep them from drying out too much. Throw out any bulbs with soft, rotting patches before they infect other bulbs.



Think Ahead: If you like the ease of flowering bulbs (they contain within them everything they need to grow, at least for the first year), plant some now for spring bloom. You can plants hardy bulbs like daffodils and narcissus, tulips, crocuses and lilies until the ground starts to freeze and it becomes tough to push in a trowel to dig planting holes. Put a small handful of organic bulb fertilizer into the bottom of each planting hole before setting in the bulb. And set each bulb with the pointed end (from which flowers and leaves will emerge) facing up, and the flat side (from which roots will grow) facing down.

Feed The Soil: When the clean-up work is done, spread a layer of compost on top of the soil, spreading it around the bases of plants. Don't bury the crowns of plants (the point where stems meet roots) that have a clump of leaves close to the soil surface, or they could rot. To help keep down weeds, spread a fresh layer of mulch over the compost.

Feed The Birds: Stock up now on bird seed and suet, and be sure to keep your feeders filled over the cold winter months.

Take Time To Dream: When this year's garden has been put to bed, it's time to fantasize about the perfect garden you're going to have next year. Visit some online gardening forums and catalogs, or wait for print catalogs to hit your mailbox. Then drool and dream about all the irresistible new plants you won't be able to live without next year. Then make your shopping list.