Put away the pruners and loppers. It is the wrong season to prune or cutback roses, shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses, vines or anything else. Pruning encourages new growth. New growth is very vulnerable to winter cold. The new growth will die, often taking the rest of the plant with it.

Leave most plants alone. Enjoy the freeze-dried beauty of shrubs and perennials through the winter. Only in late winter can you begin to cut back perennials and prune roses and other shrubs. Never cut back spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs or forsythia until they finish blooming.

Avoid cleaning up beds too well. Fallen leaves serve as a winter mulch. They usually break down during the course of the winter and enrich the soil. I don't mess with fallen leaves unless they're in the gutters or on the sidewalk. I have a mulching mower, so leaves on the lawn can simply be chopped into fine bits during the last few cuttings. This also enriches the soil. When you do rake excess leaves that fall in inconvenient places, please don't bag them in plastic and send them to the landfill. Compost them to provide extra nutrition for your soil, or use them as winter mulch where needed.

For the next six weeks, focus on productive garden activities. Pull up and compost frozen annuals and vegetable plants. Empty, clean and store outdoor pots. Clean and store tools and watering equipment.

Fall is also an excellent time to plant. Bulbs are usually the major focus, but it's also a very good time to plants trees, shrubs and perennials. The soil is still warm and they'll settle in well. Winter watering is usually necessary if snowfall isn't reliable. A mulch of those extra leaves would certainly be beneficial.

Cold weather may have slowed us down, but gardeners have much to do before winter truly descends.