Fall
Steps to a Wonderful Landscape
Many
gardeners dread the traditional fall “clean-up” of their gardens and yard. It
signals the arrival of winter with cold and snow and the passing of sunny warm
days with beautiful gardens and green grass. But fall clean-up doesn’t have to
be such a chore. Below are some recommendations to do this fall; most are more
like ‘fun’ than ‘work’.
Don’t Rake the Leaves
Yes,
you have been told you must rake the
leaves off your lawn or your grass will die. That is a myth! Just use the lawn
mower to shred the leaves and mow your lawn at the same time. Ditch the rake
and the bagger attachment to your mower. As long as you can see grass poking up
out of the leaves you can safely mow the leaves without harming the lawn. The little
bits of leaves will add organic matter to the soil which helps improve both
drainage and its water holding ability.
Fertilize your lawn
Fall
is a great time to fertilize your lawn, but use a low nitrogen slow release
fertilizer such as Milorganite. I suggest an organic fertilizer as it works
with the natural balance of the soil, virtually no risk of over applying,
doesn’t pollute groundwater or cause polluted runoff and adds organic material
to the soil. Fertilizing in the fall helps your lawn recover from stresses in
the summer and encourages deep roots which helps compete with weeds, diseases
and insects. It is suggested you fertilize early September and in late October.
Plant
Yes,
you can plant perennials, shrubs and trees in the fall! It is a great time for
planting as the soil is warm and the hot, dry days of summer have passed.
Fall
is the best time to plant daffodil, tulip, crocus and other types of bulbs.
Plant bulbs when the night-time temperatures are around 40-50°F. If you plant
too soon, you risk the bulbs sprouting early. Follow the planting instructions
on the package. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs 2-3 times their height
in the ground.
Skip Cleaning the
Garden
Leave
the stalks of the dead perennials for overwintering pollinators. Wait until
there have been several 50°F days in the spring before removing dead foliage.
Not only will you increase the beneficial insects in your garden next year, you
add winter interest to your landscape.
Exception:
Remove all diseased plant material this fall and dispose of it at a county
compost site. Your home compost probably doesn’t get hot enough to kill
pathogens and in the spring when you use the compost you may be spreading disease
in your garden. Most tomato plants have some sort of fungal problem in the
fall, so dispose of them too even if they look okay.
Start a Compost Pile
Anytime
of the year is the good time to start a compost pile, but sometimes the fall is
a great time as you have less other chores to do. There are dozens of ways to
set up a compost pile. Spend a rainy day researching ideas on the internet.
Start a New Garden
Fall
is a great time to start a new garden and you won’t need to do the back
breaking work of removing sod! Sometimes called sheet gardening, sheet mulch
gardening or lasagna gardening. Here are the steps:
1.
Outline the area of the new garden with rope or a garden hose. Place cardboard
or 5-6 sheet stacks of newspaper over the grass/weeds. Make sure to overlap the
sheets of cardboard or newspaper. No need to remove the sod or weeds as the
grass/weeds will decompose under the cardboard or paper.
2.
Spread on a 5-6” layer of compost. Top with a 3-4” layer of mulch such as
shredded leaves, straw or wood chips. You can make each layer thicker as it
will shrink as it decomposes. By next spring you can plant without tiling,
double digging or turning over the soil. The grass/weeds at the bottom will
have decomposed and your plant’s roots will easily penetrate deeper as they
grow bigger.
3.
Each year add more compost to your garden to create a beautiful ‘Black Gold’
growing bed.
Journal Your
Successes (and the less than successes)
Keeping
a journal of your gardening adventures helps you down the road. Use a simple
spiral notebook to write down what you grew, what didn’t grow and what
varieties performed the best or what you want to try next year. This winter or
spring when you plan your garden you’ll know what worked and what didn’t work.
I also add a To-Do List in my journal so I remember what seeds I want to grow
or what plants need to be moved or replaced.
Save Seeds
I’d
be remiss if I didn’t remind you to save seeds. The seed library is always in
need of tomato, pea, bean, lettuce, sweet pepper and native plant seeds. Fall
is when most native plants set seeds. Wait until the seed pods are brown and
dry before harvesting. Your pea and bean seed pods are probably dry by now too.
Happy Fall Gardening,
Pam
