Seriously, put down the rake. Your lawn will be better for it.

Leaves. They have held on through torrential rains and hurricane force winds, but they cannot withstand the test of time in the form of rapidly diminishing daylight hours. The leaves are finally falling.

In the early years of this column, which was literally before many of you were born, leaf fall was cause for quite a lot of work. Back then all of us were programmed to rake leaves up so that our lawns were golf-green clean. Personally, I spent untold hours of my youth keeping 8 acres clear of leaves. Sure, I am a better person for it — but times have changed.

Soil food webbies that we all are, we know now these leaves are the second half of the perfect mulch for our lawns. Grass clippings all summerlong and mulched up leaves this time of year (and any left in the spring), feed the microbes that fertilize lawns. Use leaves and clippings and you will never have to fertilize your lawn again. That is an amazing statement to those who regularly apply fertilizers, but it is the truth the lawn food companies don't want you to know.

As an experiment, for the past couple of years I haven't even mulched up our leaves. They were still mostly gone by spring and those that remained were chopped up on the first run with the mower. It doesn't get easier unless you forgo the lawn altogether.

[Related: Why raking your yard is a terrible idea]

By the same token, your perennials are finishing up if they are not spent already. Standard gardening advice used to be to get right in there and clean things up. Now, we know that as the leaves and stems of perennials decay they feed the soil food web, harbor the beneficials over the winter and give interest to the winter landscape. Skip the work.

So, what are you going to do with all the time you don't have to spend raking? Oh sure, you need to clear off the driveway, and you should keep those leaves or use them for mulching around trees and on perennials. Also, don't forget porches and flat roofs.

Well, you could plant spring flowering bulbs. They are for sale all over the place and the ground is not frozen. Buy as many as you can afford and have time and space to plant. You can never plant too many spring flowering bulbs. Make sure your packaging has planting depth instructions or pick up the sheet nearby that has the instructions. Since things have warmed up, there is no need to plant deeper like we used to.

Generally, the pointed end of the bulb goes up when planting. They will do great as long as you put 2 or 3 inches or more of mulch (preferably with grass clippings, but leaves will do) over them. This will keep the soil thawed so the bulb can get started, but once it does freeze the mulch will keep the ground frozen, especially if we don't get snow cover.

Don't use bone meal or fertilizer, because that attracts water, which will rot the bulb. There is no need to water. The bulb has what it needs right in it.

If you want to have spring flowering bulbs indoors, in late winter, you need to start the process now. It is called forcing. Pot your bulbs up as you would plant them outdoors, and put them in a totally dark location where temperatures are in the mid-40s. It is going to take 12 to 14 weeks, so start now. If you want, your outdoor bulbs may end up competing with those you forced, which defeats the purpose.

Jeff's Alaska Calendar for the week of Sept. 29

Alaska garden goes national: My friend Les Brake's famous Willow garden is being featured in the media again, this time in the autumn edition of Garden Design Magazine, which is available where great magazines are sold (or why not subscribe?). Brake will also be speaking at the Alaska Botanical Garden soon.

Last call on bringing plants indoors: Frost is coming if it hasn't already.

Winter lights: Now is the time to put up and turn on those strings of white lights (OK, tasteful color displays are welcome).

Driveways and paths: Mark yours with stakes or reflectors before the ground freezes.

Outdoor faucets: Turn yours off. Disconnect hoses and other accouterments.