Now that the hot temperatures have eased a bit it is time to get ready for fall planting whether planting a vegetable garden, fall and winter plants, grass seed or trees and shrubs. To provide a great growing base for any plants be sure to replenish the soil with composted manure, cotton burr compost, mushroom compost and sphagnum peat moss, work in well. Fall mums will begin arriving in the next few weeks and will provide great color in your landscape. Chrysanthemums are perennial in our area and can live many years in your landscape if left to grow; many in our area use them as annuals and remove them as soon as they stop blooming and replace them with other fall and winter plants to have continuous color. Pansies are the annual of choice for our area to provide fall and winter color all through the coldest days of winter. It is really uplifting to look out on those cold January and February days at their little smiling faces in the landscape. Do not worry about them if there is ice or snow covering them, once it melts and we have forty-five-degree temperatures again they will start growing again and be beautiful.
A fall vegetable garden can produce beautiful produce available until the first frost. Yes, tomatoes and peppers will grow great but keep in mind the Cole crops also since they can handle any early frosts just fine. Cole crops include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, brussels sprouts, radishes, carrots, spinach, eggplant and if you want to try garlic plant now for next year’s harvest. Whether growing inground or in containers the first step is to replenish your soil by adding in more manure and sphagnum peat moss to replace nutrients used up by your spring garden vegetables.
Fall grass seed can be planted now whether as a new lawn or just in those bare spots the sprinklers missed in our extreme extended temperatures. Rough up the ground with a garden rake, apply the seed whether tossing by hand or a spreader, water in and keep applying water when dry even through the winter and watch it grow. The grass needs to develop a good root structure to make it through the winter and put on a show next spring.
Fall planting of trees and shrubs is a great idea if you can find the selection you wish to plant. Most retailers now prefer to have early spring shipments of trees and shrubs due to vendors running out of plants since there is a major plant shortage. If you do have those plants, you never quite got around to planting now is the time to get them in the ground to develop a good root system for next spring. Also, fall is a great time to move trees and shrubs once they go dormant, let those roots grow during the warm winter days. Wait to divide perennial flowers until next spring. Til next time, Vicki
