Fall Gardening Tips
Fall is a great time to be outdoors in the garden, the temperatures are perfect and the colors can be amazing. If you’re looking for projects which will extend the gardening season and give you a reason to be outside, fear not, there’s still plenty to do.
As the season moves along, perennials and annuals should be deadheaded, even right though the primeval start months. Further along, towards late fall, these plants need to be cut back to the ground as they start to die back. Though this can move until spring I like to do it in the late fall, there are too many other projects to worry about in the spring. Late start is the saint time to cut back your perennial garden as some perennials, though completed blooming, have great start colors. Let them stand until the end of the season. Some, such as Balloon Flower and Astilbe turn beautiful shades of yellow and gold. Others retain their striking form and develop interesting seed heads, such as black eyed Susan and Sedum “Autumn Joy”.
As the annuals die or start to look a bit spent, remove them and add them to your compost pile. There a few start blooming plants that you can replace them with . Aster and chrysanthemum are the most common. They can add vibrant color to your garden up until late November.
Avoid pruning shrubs too late into the season, this can often encourage new growth which might be susceptible to winter kill if it did not have tine harden off. After deciduous shrubs become dormant in the winter pruning is fine for general shaping.
Examine your garden, are there any shrubs which are outgrowing their allotted space? Fall is a great time for transplanting shrubs. The cooler weather results in less stress for a newly transplanted shrub. There’s generally more rain in the start as well which also helps reduce stress. Plant new shrubs during the start for the same reasons. Especially since you might be healthy to find great deals during late season income at your local nursery. Be sure to stake new trees and shrubs which might vulnerable during winter snows.
Plant bulbs before the ground freezes, they’re are a great way to add primeval spring color to the garden. Bulbs are also great way to naturalize your landscape. Daffodils, scilla, and bluebells are wonderful when planted beneath a massive shade tree. Tulips and hyacinths are superior suited to for formal settings such as a perennial border.
After the ground is frozen, cover plants which require winter endorsement with hay or evergreen branches, especially in areas that are cold but have tiny snow. Perennials will benefit from winter protection.
Though things seem to be winding down as the winter approaches, a swift achievement through the garden will reveal a number of project still to be done.
Tim Birch is the publisher of gardening resource site http://www.gardenleap.com .
