Gardening and Horticulture - prepping for winter, next spring

hi. i am very new to gardening and have a few questions. i hope someone can help. we just bought a house in the midwest and would like to remove most of the plants/weeds that surround our lawn. we plan to do some new landscaping early next spring (some vegetables, perhaps an apple tree, and then some flowers/foliage). my question is: what is the best way to prep for next season. i imagine we should tear out now anything we don't plan to keep. should we do anything to the soil now before it gets too cold? is there anythign we should plant now? or should we just let it lay fallow for the next six months?

thanks in advance.

Fall is a good time to plant. The weeds don't compete so much. Water requirements are lessened. The plants will grow roots all winter long, and be ready for spring. It is generally drier in the fall, so the soil is easier to work.

If you take out the plants this fall and wait, mulch the raw beds to prevent erosion from winter rains.

Hope this helps.

Welcome dsw

I got some links for you from our Sticky ( Helpful Garden Links). Don't forget a lot of members have done some very good work so we can just check our Sticky (Useful Garden Links). It will save you so many searches, & time after all we all have at least 1 thing in common. We are all Gardeners :)



http://www.bulblady.com/bulblady/wintercareforsummerbulbs.html

http://www.bmi.net/roseguy/gtcare.html

http://www.backyardgardener.com/rose/rose2.html

http://www.collierarbor.com/calendar.html

http://houseandhome.msn.com/Garden/GardenCare/GardenCareCenter.aspx

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/greenline/96v4/gl9608.01.html

http://www.my-garden-supplies.com/garden_tips_folder/winter_garden_preparation.htm

http://www.rain.org/~sals/winter.html

http://www.bestgardening.com/bgc/howto/careborders03.htm

http://www.gardeningtips.org/March/yard.shtml

http://nh.essortment.com/plantingwinter_rifw.htm