Garden questions

A recent email brought me these questions:

I have a couple of quick questions for an experienced gardener:

I have some "Money Plant" seeds- they are a plant that -when dried turns into silver looking coins. Quite pretty I think in a dried arrangement. Anyway, my question is: when do I put those seeds out? And do I plant the seeds or just spread them?

And my second question is: What should I do for my garden to put it to "sleep" for the winter? A friend told me to trim all the perennials of their dead and dying leaves and then cover everything with mulch...but then a neighbor remarked that it really was not necessary... What to do? I have found both opinions - to do nothing and to cover everything on websites???? What do you do? I mostly have lilies, hostas, ferns, and they were given to me and planted late summer so they haven't really grown a spring/summer season yet.

Any advice would be appreciated. Many Thanks!

Toni


My response:
About the money plant - know it well - Really enjoy it, although some people treat it as a weed! To each his own taste!. Anyway, you can just spread the seeds wherever you want it to grow. It needs no attention at all to thrive!

Both opinions are good. To safeguard your plants over the winter a mulch can help. I let the leaves fall as they land and then rake in spring. I often will put a top shovelful of compost on my more tender plants, as an extra treat for the winter. By mulching the plants you can help protect them from winter heaving. That's when the soil freezes, then thaws, then freezes, etc. The mulch can help protect the plants from having their roots come up to the surface, freezing and killing off the plant. I have this happen occasionally, but not every yeaer.

It all comes down to how much work you want to got through. When I was sick for several years, I was unable to do anything, and most of everything survived fine on its own.