Cars, boats and homes aren’t the only things that need to be winterized. Giving your garden a little cold-weather TLC sets you up for healthier plants and less work when the weather warms up again. If it seems like more trouble than it’s worth, maybe these four reasons will convince you.

1. Save Yourself from More Work
If those fall leaves are a pain to remove now, imagine how annoying they’ll be when they’re sopping wet and riddled with mold. Removing dead material, including leaves to withering plants, while its fresh and dry is easier and more pleasant. Cutting back perennials like ornamental grasses will also help them bush out nicely next spring.

2. Keeping Warm
Delicate plants like roses, new trees and plants that are barely suited for your growing zone need a heavy jacket to survive the cold. Winterize these plants properly to protect your investments. Mulch your planting beds and put a layer of leaf mulch down on your turf grass to keep perennials safe and help overseeded turf establish strong roots during its dormant period.

3. Preventing Disease
Those dead branches and spindly shoots are more than just an eyesore. When weighed down with ice and snow, they can snap and strip healthy growth along with them. Prune any dead, weak and already diseased growth. Removing fallen leaves and dead plant material also keeps them from becoming soggy, disease-breeding messes when the snow starts to melt.

4. Protecting Your Decorations
Anyone that has ever had a glass patio tabletop shatter from ice buildup will tell you the importance of winterizing your garden extras. Take pumps out of fountains or install a heater. Empty, wash, dry and store pots or put them in a sheltered area. Clean and either store or cover decorations and furniture. Empty and store your hoses, and have a pro winterize in-ground sprinklers.

Soak up a little bit of sun while it lasts and get out there to winterize your garden. A day’s work now will save you from a week of work and a pile of worries come spring.