Fall is one of the best times of the year: the humidity of summer is gone, the air is crisp, and there are fewer bugs around to annoy you while you get your gardening on. But if you’re new to gardening (as many of us during the COVID-19 pandemic are), you might be worried what the upcoming cold could mean for your garden. For guidance, knowngarden offers essential tips to help you keep your garden thriving through the colder months.
The good news is that preparing your garden for the cooler weather isn’t as hard as it sounds. By doing a little work now, you can be sure that your garden will be in full bloom by the time spring arrives. That said, here are five ways you can get your garden ready officially ready for fall.
Plant your perennials
If you’re looking to add more color to your garden by the time spring arrives, it’s a good idea to get your perennials in the ground at least six weeks before the ground freezes. Depending on where you live, the ground typically freezes by the time Halloween arrives, and so it’s best to have your perennials planted between September and mid-October. This gives your perennials enough time to take root in the ground before winter arrives so you don’t need to worry about your flowers getting blown away by Jack Frost.
When spring finally arrives, your perennials will begin to grow again and will blossom in time with your other flowers. If you’re not sure which flowers to choose, consider reaching out to your local greenhouse or gardening store. The floral industry is currently worth over $100 billion and many homeowners do their shopping for new blooms in the fall. In fact, mums are one of the most popular fall flowers because their bright fiery colors typically last through the first frost and will bloom again by the next year.
Pull out your dead plants and remove dead trees
Just because it’s fall doesn’t mean you can’t get your spring cleaning on. It’s a good idea to pull out any dead plants or have a tree removal service before winter arrives. This helps to make room for newly planted perennials to spread out and root in the ground. It also makes room for mulching to keep your plants warm before winter arrives. However, before you add your dead plants to your compost pile, make sure that the plants have died because of a disease. If you compost diseased leaves and plants, you could end up spreading the disease to the rest of your plants and killing your garden.
Revamp your watering schedule
Plants need weekly watering during the summer months because the hot sun can suck up all the moisture from the soil, leaving your flowers to cook in the heat. During the fall, plants don’t need as much water. Change up your watering schedule so that you’re watering plants every other week rather than weekly throughout the fall. Once winter arrives, you should only be watering your plants monthly and only when air and soil temperatures are above 40 degrees F with no snow cover. Watering your plants when it’s too cold can cause serious damage to your garden.
Clean and put away your garden tools
A good garden hose typically lasts between five to 10 years, but only if you take good care of it. Now that fall has arrived, it’s important to protect your garden equipment from rusting or cracking in the cold. Before you store away your equipment for the winter, make sure to brush off and clean your equipment of any dirt. Let them dry and then give your metal equipment a good coat of vegetable oil to prevent rust.
Once your equipment is nice and clean, store your tools away in your garage or basement for the season. If your gardening equipment is past its prime, consider recycling it at your nearest garden center. Around 3,500 kilograms of steel can be reused from a single shipping container, and you’d be surprised how much can be salvaged from your own gardening equipment.
Mulch away
It’s important to mulch your plants, especially annual beds, before the first frost settles in. You may consider hiring forestry mulching services for this or you may do it yourself. As we mentioned before, the first frost typically occurs by October 31 or later depending on where you live, so it’s best to mulch by mid-October. By using dyed mulch, it helps to moderate winter soil temperatures so your plants’ roots don’t freeze. By composting fall leaves, you can actually recycle the leaves that fall in your yard as compost for your garden.
With colder weather on the way, getting your garden ready for the fall can seem like a daunting task. But by following the tips above from knowngarden, you can be sure your garden will be fall-ready in no time.
