It won’t be long until it’s fall planting season, so right now is a good time to begin the larger part – the mental preparation and planning – of the work you’re going to do in your garden. The time you spend in the next few weeks to plan your fall gardening activities will not only make you more productive (and less stressed), but will make your gardening more successful as well.
Fall is an ideal time to plant or transplant many garden stalwarts, including:
- Perennials
- Bulbs (spring flowering)
- Container roses
- Ornamental grasses
- Groundcovers
- Trees and shrubs
Stroll around the yard and note plants to be moved or replaced, places where new plants can be added, areas where the soil or drainage needs to be improved, trees that need trimming, and any other items that should be addressed before winter.
Sometimes it helps to make sketches or take photographs of areas that need work, then have these handy while shopping in catalogs or at the garden center.
This is also a good time to check your gardening supplies and purchase any that you will need for fall planting – especially garden soil, plant food, and mulch.
If you’re going to have a lot of trimmings from trees and shrubs and have been thinking about buying a chipper/shredder to turn those trimmings into compost, this might be the time to make that investment. A power garden tiller could be a timely purchase if you have a large vegetable garden or will be creating new flowerbeds.
And don’t forget the lawn. The time just before Labor Day is ideal for planting new grass seed, the fall months are a good time to kill lawn weeds, and fall is the single best time of the year to feed your lawn.