Fall Gardening Tips – A Planning, Planting and Maintenance Checklist
October is a good time to take stock of your current garden, do fall planting and plan ahead for next year. Here is a to-do checklist:
Planning:
– Prepare your beds and rows for your winter or spring garden.
– Plan for next year’s pest management. Note the type and location of plants that had insect or disease problems. Remove dead plants and till the soil to disrupt any remaining pest. Plan on rotating plant types.
– Store bulbs in a cool spot under your house or in your refrigerator away from fruits.
– Stop landscape irrigation as it can interfere with cooler weather acclimation. New plantings are an exception, although the watering requirements will be less as the days get colder.
– Pick the last vegetable crops prior to the first frost. If you anticipate a light frost, you can cover the plants with a light cloth, giving you several more weeks of harvest before a hard freeze occurs.
Planting:
– Plant a cover crop such as rye or wheat in an unused portion of your vegetable garden. This will help to improve soil structure and water infiltration, recycle nutrients and reduce soil erosion.
– Plant trees and shrubs. When digging a hole, make sure that it is sufficiently large enough that your feet can get around the plant, and then backfill by breaking down the sides of the hole and follow with the soil that was removed. Build a small water ring around the plant with mulch or the remaining soil and water well. The top of the root ball should be at or above the grade of the surrounding soil. Mulch around the plant, leaving the trunk exposed.
– Dig and divide perennials that bloomed earlier in the year, watering well when replanting. Unless there is a spell of hot weather, you may not need to water them again until the spring.
– If you live in an area where winters are mild, you can plant snapdragons, violas and pansies to provide color all winter long. Established plants will survive occasional cold snaps and rebound quickly.
Perennials are a great investment as they come back year after year, and early autumn is a good time for finding end-of-season bargains. Learn more in this Allen Smith video:
Maintenance:
– Eliminate any weeds that you find growing as this is the best time to control them while they are small.
– Allow plants to go dormant naturally. In most situations, avoid fertilization and pruning.
– Harvest the last of your annual herbs before the first frost.
– Collect and send in soil samples for testing as the turnaround for analysis reports is faster in the fall than in late winter or spring.
