Fall is the ideal time to plant almost everything! With the leaves turning vibrant shades of orange and gold, now’s the perfect moment to give your plants a head start. Planting in the fall gives your greenery an edge come spring, when they burst forth with fresh foliage and colorful blooms!
Assessing Your Landscape: A Seasonal Check-Up
Autumn is not just for pumpkin spice lattes; it’s also a fantastic time to evaluate your landscape! Take a stroll through your garden and see what survived the summer’s heat. If any plants need replacing, there’s no time like the present. Nurseries are bursting with beautiful options, just waiting to add some seasonal charm to your space.
If you don’t have good roots, your plant won’t survive.
The Importance of Root Development: A Strong Foundation
Planting in the fall lets roots cozy up to their new home before winter’s chill or summer’s heat sets in. Most plants are letting go of their foliage for the season and can focus their energy on growing strong, healthy roots. By spring, those roots will be ready to take in all the nutrients and moisture your plants need to flourish!
Reducing Transplant Stress: A Gentle Transition
Let’s face it—transplanting can be stressful for our plant pals. But fear not! Fall rains and cooler temperatures mean fewer stressors for our green friends. Instead of scrambling to survive, your plants can put their energy into establishing a solid root system and making themselves at home.
Less Competition from Weeds and Pests: Nature’s Truce
As the days get shorter, weeds are going dormant, and pests are preparing for their winter nap. Now your plants can bask in the sun without having to compete for nutrients and space. Less competition means healthier plants—talk about a win-win!
Now is a good time to plant your bulbs.
Enjoyable Gardening Conditions: Breathe in That Crisp Air
With the heat of summer behind us, gardening in the fall becomes a delightful experience. There’s nothing quite like digging in the dirt with a cool breeze on your back and leaves crunching underfoot. Who wants to plant in 100-degree weather? Not us!
Post-Transplant Care: Nurturing Your New Friends
Once you’ve got your new plants in the ground, here are a few festive tips to help them thrive:
Watering: A Hydration Celebration!
Water your new plants daily for the first two weeks. Think of it as a hydration party for their roots! After two weeks, you can start stretching out the time between watering until you’re at a comfy once or twice a week. Most plants need about an inch of water a week under their drip line for optimal growing conditions.
Mulching: A Snug Blanket for Your Plants
Apply three inches of mulch to give your plants a warm, protective cover. Mulch helps keep soil temperatures steady, retains moisture, and prevents weeds from crashing the party. Plus, it keeps soil-borne diseases at bay, so your plants can stay healthy and happy!
Fertilizer Caution: Hold the Holiday Treats
While it’s tempting to give your plants a little extra love with fertilizer, hold off during their first fall in the ground. Fertilizer can burn those delicate root hairs and encourage tender foliage that might not handle frost well. It’s better to wait until the spring growing season to feed your garden.
Let Us Help: Your Gardening Allies
At Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping, we’re here to help you celebrate the season! Whether you need to replace some sad plants or you’re dreaming of a whole new garden design, we’ve got your back. Schedule a consultation soon—before our calendar fills up faster than a pumpkin patch on a Saturday!
Now that the hot summer is over, our thoughts turn to football watch parties and other outdoor activities. This season is an excellent time to garden. If you are considering adding plants to your landscape, fall is a good time to do it.
Good for Planning
Now is a good time to look at your landscape and mark any places you don’t have plants but want them. If something didn’t survive the unusually hot and dry summer, you can replace it now with something that will cope better with the higher temperatures. Choosing native plants that are adapted to our area will give you the most bang for your buck. Read more about choosing the best plants for the area in this article.
Good for Roots
Planting in the fall allows the roots to grow and get established before the cold of the winter or the heat of the summer. Since many plants have stopped growing foliage for the year, the new plant will spend all its energy growing its roots. This stabilizes the plant, and bigger roots allow plants to reach deep water and nutrients that plants without such an extensive root system cannot reach.
Less Stressful for Plants
Cooler temperatures are less stressful to plants. Fall rain relieves any drought stress the plants might have. When plants have to use less energy dealing with heat, drought, and trying to survive, they are more able to grow healthy roots and become established.
Fewer Weeds and Pests
Most weeds and pests are winding down for fall, so they won’t be attacking your new plants. Weeds steal nutrients, water, and sunlight from your plants, so planting at a time the weeds are not growing leaves more resources free for your new plants. Pests eat leaves, stems, flowers, and fruit. In the fall, most pests are trying to find a place to overwinter or are dying. Your plant doesn’t have to produce chemicals to repel pests or cope with having parts eaten by them.
Being Outside Is Nicer
Fall is a pleasant time to be outside working in the garden. It is not hot like summer, but the cold hasn’t come yet. Enjoy the temperate weather while it lasts by planting things. Gardening is considered moderate exercise, so planting is good for you.
Post-Planting Care
After you plant your new trees, shrubs, lawn, and perennials, here are some care tips.
Water
Water your new plants every day for the first two weeks. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. After this, perennials and lawns need one inch of water a week. Trees and shrubs should get at least an inch a week under their entire canopy. Before the first frost, water your landscape well, so there is a reservoir of water in the soil when it freezes. You will still need to water occasionally during the winter.
Mulch
Mulch around your new plants to protect them from the cold, hold in moisture, and keep weeds at bay. Spreading three inches of mulch around your new plantings is the best way to keep them warm this winter. Mulch acts like a blanket in cold weather. Mulch also holds moisture so that it is available to the plant longer. Finally, mulch keeps weeds from robbing your new plantings.
Fertilizer
One thing to leave out is fertilizer. Fertilizing your new plants will promote new foliage growth. New growth will freeze in the cold, leaving injuries on your plants that diseases can enter through. Wait until spring to fertilize these plants.
Let Us Help
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping will be happy to talk with you about the ideal new plants for your landscape. You can schedule a consultation with our garden specialist, Lauryn Pitts, and she can help you plan what to plant. Once you know what you want, our Blue Crew can plant it for you and maintain it all year long. Schedule a consult today.
Fall is fast approaching. That means it is time to do your fall planting. Planting in the fall gives your plants a head start in the spring for perennials and gives the flower beds a burst of color from fall annuals.
Fall Vegetables
Planting in the fall is a race between the vegetables and the onset of winter. It is a little late to plant most things, but if you use transplants, you will probably make a crop before the first freeze. You may even get a crop of root vegetables, depending on when the first killing freeze comes. The Missouri Extension Service has a good map with planting dates and cultivars on their website. Here are some you can still plant.
Beans There are lots of different types of beans and many of them can be planted in the fall.
Beets You can harvest both the roots, or beets, and the tops.
Broccoli This member of the Cole family can be harvested smaller than usual before a freeze.
Cabbage These can survive a mild frost.
Cauliflower The new “rice” can be harvested as long as it is no longer green.
Kohlrabi Plant the Eder cultivar for earlier harvest.
Mustard Greens often taste better after a slight frost.
Lettuce Both loose leaf and butterhead lettuce will work.
Radishes These fast growing roots will produce before the first hard freeze. The greens are edible, too, and add some bite to salads.
Spinach Another green that does well in the fall.
Turnips Both the leaves and roots work well in the fall.
For specific tips on how to plant each vegetable, go here.
Fall Ornamentals
Ornamental plants brighten the landscape. The time is right to plant the following plants.
Chrysanthemum (Mums) start flowering in late summer and last until the first frost. They can be put in pots or in the ground.
Pansies are always in bloom somewhere. They bloom in September in Missouri, so grab a flat of them and add a little color to the fall flower bed.
Bulbs planted this month will grow good roots before the winter puts them into dormancy. The cold fulfills the ‘chilling’ requirements, so they bloom in late winter or early spring.
Kale comes in ornamental versions that are prettier than the ones most people grow for food. They are still edible, but can be a bit tougher than vegetable kale cultivars.
Lawn Renovations
Mid-August to mid-September is a good time to renovate your lawn. The following will make your lawn lush and thick in the spring.
Apply a post-emergent to your lawn to kill the weeds.
Dethatch your lawn.
Top dress your lawn with an inch of compost.
Use a rake to smooth the compost into a seed bed anywhere the lawn is not doing well.
Spread the grass seeds on the seed bed.
Keep moist for 14-21 days until it germinates.
Keep moist for 21-30 days before mowing for the first time. Let the ground dry out a little before mowing or you will leave ruts in the new grass.
Need some help getting ready for Fall? Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can remove fading annuals and replace them with fall colors. If you want a few vegetables but don’t want a vegetable bed, we can plant them in a corner of your flower bed. While we do not offer lawn renovations as a stand-alone service, we can refer you to a trusted partner we know does good work. Of course, if we manage your whole landscape, we can do the lawn renovations, too. Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today to get on our schedule.
