I would wait until the plant begins to go dormant and the leaves dry out. But I also would start to store materials (leaves, etc) at any time. Due to settling, I would keep a bag of leaves. Use it in mid winter if you notice that the leaves are settling.

If there is going to be a drastic change in the weather with temps crashing into the teens, I would winter protect early.

This post was edited by luis_pr on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 14:39

Thanks!