Lawn:

If you have read my earlier posts you know I think you are crazy to still have the big lawn you think needs to look perfectly green all the time! But if you do have a lawn and you were good and watered it sparingly through the hot summer months you are definitely noticing that it is greening up on its own now that some fall rains have started.

The lawn is coming out of it's natural dormancy period right now and that makes it a great time to rake out the thatch from this summer and give it a fertilizing. Fall is the best time to fertilize the lawn and be sure to use organic fertilizer (because we are feeding the soil, not the grass itself) and use the rate described on the bag as a guide, but don't worry about any fancy applicators or the amounts too much, just throw it liberally around and water in well.

Fertilizing the Gardens:
In general a mature garden that is being mulched on a regular basis will not need any supplemental fertilizing- and too much can create unnatural growth that is unhealthy and unsustainable so if things are not as green or lush as you would like them to be try a year of mulching and proper watering before you use any fertilizers. If there is a deficiency in the soil and the plants still look "sick" consult a gardener (ME) to help you diagnose the problem. Throwing fertilizers around usually ends up hurting more than helping. In a new landscape the soil should have been fertilized upon planting and can be gently fertilized the next fall as well - usually two to three "doses" of an organic fertilizer coupled with regular mulching is enough to restart the natural biotic web of food production in the root zone that then will sustain itself with regular mulching.

　
Perennials:
Cutting back the perennials is a standard of fall clean up but it needs to be done at the right time for the best growth for the next year. Remember that the leaves of your daylily or daisy etc. are making food for storage during the winter for the plant and should be left on as long as they are still green. Cutting back the whole plant after it is done flowering robs the plant of this important food gathering time so wait until they die back on their own or the first frost browns them. You can of course leave the foliage on the plant until Spring as the dead foliage is the plants natural protector from cold - but some find it unsightly and it can create a habitat for slugs and other critters to live over winter - so better to cut it back when it is ready and then mulch for a cleaned up garden look.

Leaves:
Once all the leaves have come down you can either use them for mulch thru the winter or compost them. Be sure to rake them off of the tops of plants and shake them off of the shrubs. To use as mulch spread the leaves to a depth of no more than 2-3 inches on the bare soil areas of your garden. Leaves do an excellent job of protecting your soil from harsh winter rains and protects the shallow root zone of perennials and bulbs. But don't smother your perennials with leaves, rather just apply them as mulch right up to the perennials base. In severe cold weather save a pile of leaves in a compost heap that you can place on top of perennials during cold snaps and take them off when the worst has passed. In the Spring when the first bulbs start to come up rake up all the leaves from the beds and pile them to compost and be dug into the soil when you do any future planting or transplanting.

Pruning:
Lots of people let the garden go in the later summer and then do a bunch of pruning and cutting back of summer growth when they clean up for fall. However Fall is not a good time to prune. There are a small host of plants that can be pruned in the fall but in general you don't want to be doing any big pruning and certainly NO renovation pruning in the Fall. All your Spring or Summer flowering shrubs should have been pruned by now and your deciduous trees and shrubs will be running sap as they start to go dormant for the winter so fall is a very detrimental time to prune those plants. (Maples especially) Wait until winter for the deciduous plants.

If you prune any of your Spring flowering shrubs in fall you will be pruning off where the buds have set up, or will be setting up, for the coming Springs bloom. If you have to make some cuts then just cut what is really in the way - for example; you have a few branches that grew over the phone line this summer and your worried a winter snow on those branches might put undue weight on the lines. Take off as little as possible to relieve the line but don't prune the whole tree right now and only do as few cuts as possible to relieve the immediate problem. Then wait until winter to take any big cuts needed.

Weeding:
Fall is one of the best times of the year to weed, because with weed control it is all about getting out the weeds before they set seed. Summer blooming weeds are full of seeds that are drying on the vine this minute and the next wind or rain scatters them far and wide. So concentrate on getting at the weeds hard core in the fall....and get to any that are in bloom or just about done blooming as soon as you can so they don't scatter seeds. Learning to see when certain trouble weeds bloom and eradicating them before they do is a great tool for seriously diminishing your weed problems.

Plant bulbs:
Wait until Oct., at the earliest, to plant bulbs - especially in a predicted El Nino winter (when it is warmer than normal in the Fall). Bulbs need to be kept chilled until you plant them, in a garage or a shady spot that gets no sun at all, then they should not be put in the ground until the soil temps are constantly low enough to keep the bulbs from warming and thinking it is time to grow.

One good rule of thumb for proper planting depth to follow is to plant the bulb half as deep as the height of the flower that bulb will produce. So a short little 3 inch Crocus should only be planted 1.5 inches deep and a tall 1 foot tulip should be planted 6 inches deep.

Enjoy:
If you have been working on achieving diversity in your garden then you will have a large array of plants that will be putting on their best show this time of year as they change into winter outfits. Colors changes, berries come from summer flowers, seed pods look beautiful with the dew on them and scents all have their best moments in the fall.

Here's a tip for a great tree to plant if you like scents in the garden and gorgeous fall color; The dried fallen leaves of the Katsura tree ( Cercidiphyllum japonicum) smell like cotton candy when shuffled through! I kid you not - and it is strong, not one of those "oh I kinda smell it" smells! The fall leaf color of this tree is also amazing.

 


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