Fall is clean-up, spruce-up time. The things you do now will give your outdoor space a head start for next spring. Not sure where to start? Here's what you can do right now to improve your garden.

1. Survey. Before you do anything, take a good look at what you have. Make notes of what worked and what did not. What you like and what you don't. What plants are working where the are, and which need to go or be cut back. Take photo's and write notes on the back.

2. Clean up. Get rid of fading annuals, clean up litter, cut spent flowers off perennials that have finished blooming, and remove any dead branches and foliage. Don't cut back anything that still active, such as roses, because dong so can encourage new growth that will be too tender to make it through winter.

3. Cover up. Replenish compost that has decomposed over summer, and add more to areas that need protection. Clean and cover or store water features. Add mulch to large containers. Wrap them with burlap or bubble wrap for extra protection against freezing or cracking. As colder weather sets in, cover or screen tender shrubs or evergreens with burlap or plastic.

4. Add color. Pansies are biennials that winter over and flower in spring; chrysantheimums and asters are perennials that are coming into their own. Ornamentals kales and cabbages offer interesting shapes, textures and colors, and they last all winter.

5. Plant vegtables. You might still have time to plant a crop of salad greens. Plant in containers where you have removed annuals. Look for seeds that go from packet to cooking pot in less than 40 days, such as argula, mustard and turnps.

6. Harvest herbs. If plants have gone to seed, save seeds for next years garden. Pick entire seed heads of dill, caraway or anise and store in a cool dry place until thoroughly dry. Transfer to labeled jars and store in a cool, dry place. To perserve herbs such as rosemary, thyme, marjoram, tarragon, and parsley, clip stems, tie together in small bundles and hang to dry in a cool, dry place. If you want only the leaves, spread them on cheesecloth on a screen to dry.

7. Plant and dig up bulbs. Now through November is the time to plant winter and spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, winter aconites, snowdrop, Dutch and grape hyacinths, crocuses and irises.  The blooms look best when the bulbs are planted in groups or in drifts. As the ground gets cooler and we get a frost, it will be time to dig up tender bulbs, such as dahalias and cannas, and store them to grow again in March.

8. Divide and transplant Perennials. Dig up or slice off reasonably large pieces of roots, three to five inches around and, depending on the depth of your roots, four to eight inches deep. Dig a new hole, add compost to the existing soil, place the division in the soil, and water.

You can also divide pips, bulbs, corms, roots or rhizomes by hand, carefully cutting where necessary. This yeilds more plants and can, as in the case of daylilies, irises, lilies of teh valley, dahlias and gladiolas, produce larger, showier flowers.

If your perennials are blooming now, wait until March or April to divide them.