What to Plant for Your Fall Garden
The fall is the perfect time to enjoy your garden, with its abundance of flowers, fruits and stems. Planting annuals and perennials together will create beautiful floral displays in the fall months. Many shrubs and trees will also burst with autumnal color, including leaves, berries and stems.
Fall Planting Benefits
Since many years, garden centers and nurseries have promoted that fall is the time for planting. Over the years this approach has become popularized, and fall is now almost as popular for planting and renovating garden as spring.
Fall planting has many advantages when it comes to permanent plants like perennials, shrubs, vines and trees. This time of the year is generally less stressful for plants. The soil remains warm for a longer time as the air temperature cools. Cooler air temperatures reduce stress on newly-planted plants, and the need to water them regularly. Plants can develop strong root systems as soil temperatures rise heading into winter.
What to plant in the Fall and Possible Hazards
Planting deciduous shrubs, perennials and trees (plants which shed their leaves on a seasonal basis, typically in the fall) is possible in the fall. You should allow enough time for plants to establish a strong root system before they enter the winter months. A good rooting system should take 6-8 weeks to develop.
Some plants, particularly trees, are identified as “fall-planting hazards.” These include trees like red maples, Acer rubrum, birches, Betula, dogwoods, Cornus, and oaks, Quercus. Even small trees of these species can be planted and transplanted successfully in the fall. Planting conifers and broadleaved plants in the fall gives them time to establish roots. Both broadleaved conifers and evergreens need to be well-rooted before winter. Otherwise, the foliage will lose moisture on sunny days and the root system will not have the ability to replenish the water. This will result in “winterburn”, which is browning of the leaves or needles.
How to Prepare your Garden for Fall Planting
Use the low temperatures in the air and the warm soil to help plants establish quickly as they go dormant. It is a good time to evaluate the design of your garden. Consider adding perennials and shrubs.
Once it appears that the extreme heat and humidity of the summer has passed, you can start planting in September. September is the best month for zones 5 and below. Fall planting is successful in USDA zones 6-8 from mid-September until mid-November. In zones 8-10 planting can continue through the fall into winter.
Compost should be added to the soil in any area where plants are going to be moved or planted. This will improve the success of the project. After the new plants are planted, they should be deeply watered. Mulching around the base will also help to conserve moisture and protect the roots of new plants heading into winter.
