Fall Gardening for Success

Health and Wellbeing Lecture Series

Christie Lovat

12:15-1:15 MS 2-084

Outline

• Fall plantings:

• perennials, annuals, bulbs, and vegetables.

• Fall care:

• Pruning, transplanting, lawn care and more.

• Putting things to bed:

• Fertilizer, mulches and pest prevention.

• Conclusions

Fall Plantings

Fall Plantings: Annuals

• Why?

• To have flowers when all others may have died.

• Seeding for next year.

• Many species do best when seeds overwinter in the ground.

Fall Plantings: Annuals• Which species:

• Flowers:• Chrysanthemums

• (not actually an annual…)

• Ornamental Kale

• Pansies

• Verbena

• Snapdragons

• Seeds:• Mallow

• Ornamental peas

• Pansies

• Snapdragons

• Ornamental cabbages

Fall Plantings: Perennials

• Why?• Many actually do best when planted in

the fall• Fall: Warm soil and wet conditions.

• Spring: Cold soil and dry summer conditions.

• Spring planting as an artifact of annual planting.

• Exceptions?• Plants which flower in fall.

• Flowering restricts root growth.

• Remove flowers and buds to get around this!

• Species that do well in the fall:• Maple• Astilbe• Daylily• Hosta• Peony• Phlox• Hens and Chicks• Hydrangea

• Species that do well in the spring:• Birch• Helleborus• Magonlia• Rhododendrons

Fall Plantings: Perennials

Fall Plantings: Bulbs

• Why?

• The cold of winter is actually what activates flower production in the bulb!

• When:

• Bulbs actually need time to form roots underground before frost.

• Earlier is better.

• How:

• For best results, use a bulb boosting fertilizer.

More Bulbs

• Pull out tender bulbs in the fall:• Cannas

• Dahlias

• Gladioli

• When frost causes leaves to die, but ground is not frozen.

• Store in a cold location (like a cellar) in dry peat moss in a paper bag.

• Bag: allows bulb to breath.

• Peat moss: keeps bulb dry,

Fall Plantings: Vegetables

• Fall Harvests:

• Many plants actually taste better when grown in cold conditions.

• Plant in August to harvest before frost.

• Some NEED a frost.

• Brussels Sprouts.

• Bulbs for Next Spring:

• Some vegetables need more than one season to develop.

Fall Plantings: Vegetables

• Species for Fall Harvest:

• Lettuce

• Radish

• Rutabaga/Turnip

• Beets

• Cabbage

• Cauliflower

• Bulbs to Sow in the Fall:

• Onion

• Garlic

Fall Care

Cutting Back Perennials

• To cut or not to cut?

• Personal preference.

• Easier to manage.

• May slightly harm plants

• Developing seed heads:

• Always cut.

Transplanting and Dividing

• Good time to move or divide many perennials:

• Only exception: fall blooming plants.

• Why divide?• Root systems of perennials become crowded

over the years.

• How to tell if a plant needs to be divided:

• Doesn’t bloom as well as it used to.• All growth is on outer edges.

• Some perennials should ONLY be moved in fall:

• Peonies• Clematis

Pruning

• Most plants have an optimal pruning time.

• Pruning outside of this time can cause:

• Disease

• No flowers next season

• Death

• When to prune determined by:

• When flowers are formed by plant.

• When disease is most easily spread.

Pruning

• No pruning of perennials should occur within the last 6 weeks of fall before frost.

• Plants pruned after frost:

• Fruit trees

• Deciduous trees

• Butterfly bush

• Berry bushes

• Grapes

Tree Care

• New trees are very vulnerable their first winter:

• Plastic guard to protect winter feeding of animals.

• Paint trunk white.

• Sun reflecting off snow can cause trunks to split!

• Shrubs can also need winter animal protection.

• May need to use a wire cage.

Rose Care

• After frost:

• To prune or not to prune?

• Mulch around the base of the plant.

• 8 inches thick.

• Cover with a Styrofoam container:

• Even better, surround the plants with wire mesh containers and fill the interior with leaves.

• Inverted garbage cans can also work!

Putting Things to Bed

Pest Prevention

• Turn your garden soil:

• Weed seeds overwinter on the soil surface.

• Many insect pests survive the winter just below the soil surface.

Disease Prevention

• Many diseases survive the winter in infected dead leaves on the soil:

• Black spot of roses

• All dead material should be cleaned from the garden.

• Especially if you’ve had disease issues during the year.

Fertilizer

• Summer fertilizers promote flower and leaf growth.

• Have lots of nitrogen and potassium.

• Fall fertilizers:

• Promote root growth.

• Helps plants survive the winter.

• Have lots of phosphorus.

• How can you tell what your fertilizer has?

• N-P-K

• Central number indicates phosphorus.

Lawn Care

• Two different applications of fertilizer in the fall:

• Early September:

• High Nitrogen fertilizer to help grass recover from drought.

• Late October – Early November:

• High phosphorus fertilizer to promote root growth.

• Helps grass tolerate winter.

Mulches

• Help protect the surface of your soil during the winter.

• Don’t need to spend loads of money:

• Fallen tree leaves from the fall make a great mulch!

• In the spring, rake them out or dig them under the soil to compost.

Conclusions

Fall Care

• Excluding these things won’t kill your garden.

• … but practicing them will have a positive effect.

• Use what works for you.

Thank You.