Take care of this fall garden preparation for a great spring growing season Late fall and early winter are not the times to leave the garden and go inside. Get outside to breathe in the crisp, fresh air and do a couple of tasks that will lighten your spring garden workload!
1. Amend your soil
Fall is the perfect time to amend your soil. One of the best things you can apply is composting. Whether you buy it or make it yourself, it adds nutrients and organic matter to your soil to keep it healthy and productive.
Add compost to garden beds
Pull back the mulch and spread ¼ to ½ inch of compost around the plants in your garden beds. The compost stays in your existing garden soil throughout the winter to mix with natural freeze/thaw cycles. That extra layer, like mulch, can help insulate and protect the roots of newly planted perennials and shrubs from harsh winter temperatures.
2. Continue to manage weeds
Even if it seems futile to pull weeds in late fall, do it anyway. There will be less cleanup in the spring, fewer weeds to pull in the future, and spring plants will be exposed to tangles of debris.
Grow cover crops to improve soil
Another great way to build better soil, especially in vegetable gardens, is to plant a winter cover crop. This can be done immediately after harvesting your last summer vegetables or at least 4 weeks before the first hard freeze in your region. Clear the spent plants, prepare the bed with little till soil, then sow the crop seed and water inside. For easy cover, try oats (Avena sativa) or red clover (Trifolium bradense).
Oats grow as a cover crop
Oats develop dense roots that reduce compaction, retain moisture and add organic matter before dying in freezing temperatures. In the spring, cut back the dry top growth (or cut it into thin slices) and plant with the resulting mulch or put in the soil before planting vegetables in early spring.
Red clover grows as a cover crop
Red clover, in the illustration above, grows in the fall and then goes dormant in the winter. Allow it to re-sprout in early spring, when it begins to flower (this is when it is most beneficial from a nutritional standpoint), until it comes under. After 2 to 3 weeks of tilling, wait until mid-spring and then plant warm-season vegetables in the soil with nitrogen-fixing clover debris.
3. Transplant a tree
Fall is a great time to plant or move a tree—the weather is cooler and less stressful on the plant than summer, and you don't have to baby it through the heat. Evergreen trees can be transplanted any time after the candelabra (new growth) hardens in early fall, at least 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes. Deciduous trees such as maples (Acer spp. and hybrids) and oaks (Quercus spp. and hybrids) can be dug up and moved as they begin to go dormant - after the leaves change color and defoliate.
Tree planting tips
A rule of thumb for planting a tree is to dig a root ball that is both 10 times the width and depth of the trunk diameter. For example, a 1-inch diameter stem should have a root ball 10 inches wide and deep. Digging more roots intact is best to reduce the shock of transplanting. Water well after planting.
4. Move perennials in the fall
Some perennials move better in the fall than in the spring. Now is the perfect time to pick up some bargain plants at the garden center during end-of-season sales.
Here's a list of the best perennials to transplant in the fall:
Carex (Carex spp. and hybrids)
Evergreens such as Carax (above) can be easily moved and separated from the plant in the fall by digging up a section and replanting. Next spring, trim back the winter-damaged leaves and new growth will suddenly fill in without the flat side where you dug up the plant, which may show if you did this in spring or summer.
Garden Flax (Flax paniculata)
Perennials like garden phlox get dead centers when it's time to divide, so it's easy to see which ones need to be moved in the fall. Cut back the plant in late fall and dig up pieces of roots for planting. They won't miss a beat in the spring, and if you do it now you won't have to have babies in the heat of summer.
Hardy Hibiscus moscheutos
Hardy hibiscus is slow to start in the spring, so transplanting in the fall 4 to 6 weeks before frost allows the roots to establish, and they won't be pulled back in the spring. To divide a particularly large hibiscus plant, cut the root ball in two with a sharp knife (the plant will still be difficult to recover) and replant at the same size as before.
Lily (Lilium spp. and hybrids)
As the lily leaves begin to fade, the bulbs store enough energy to sprout again in the spring. Stems should be cut 5 to 6 inches above the ground, dug up and transplanted. Remove small bulbs and replant them to get more lilies.
Peony (Peonia spp. and hybrids)
Peonies don't like to be disturbed, so it's best to move them when they're not actively growing, giving the plant enough time to restore roots and grow new shoots in the spring without disrupting the plant's flowering cycle. To divide, cut the root ball with a sharp knife into two or three pieces and replant the roots no more than 2 inches deep.
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