Fall Gardening Tips That Actually Work

As summer starts fading, you may think you have lost the best time for gardening. However, you still have an opportunity to create a beautiful fall garden and prepare it for next season. Preparing a fall garden is easier and less labor-intensive than planting in spring. Fall usually signals the end of gardening season, but there's still work to be done. As fall approaches, the sun becomes less intense, temperature drops down, and days get shorter. Leaves start falling on the ground, and plant energy is focused on root development compared to other parts.

The ideal way to ensure a productive garden next growing season is to start this fall. By following a few fall gardening tips, you can have a healthier, thriving, and beautiful garden in the fall and next year. In this blog, our gardening experts share the best fall gardening tips that will help you prepare your garden for this fall and for next spring and summer.

1. Add Mulch

Mulching is the best way to keep your garden soil warm when seeds are germinating. Spread a 2–3-inch layer of organic mulch around the base of plants, away from the trunk or stems. Organic mulch includes compost, wood chippings, leaves, pine needles, or straw. Mulching around the shrubs, perennials, and trees in fall will keep their roots warm throughout the coming cold months. Additionally, it adds nutrients to the soil. You can till it in the soil gently or leave a layer and till in spring.

The benefits of mulch include:

• Improve the quality of the soil
• Suppress weeds
• Protect roots from winter frost
• Increase water retention
• Improve garden appearance and organize the look of beds

2. Amend Your Soil

Fall is the best time to feed and amend your soil, as there is plenty of time for compost, manure, and organic fertilizers to break down and enrich the soil before spring. Test your soil to determine which nutrients and amendments your soil needs and how much. Adjusting the pH of your soil and preparing it can make a huge difference for your fall garden. Remove the plant debris from your beds at the end of summer and work your amendments into the soil. The nutrients in organic materials will have the whole winter to break down, reducing the load of spring gardening tasks.

3. Pull Out the Weeds

Summer is the prime season for weeds to grow all over the garden. In the late summer, pull out all the weeds with a weeder from your garden to prevent them from seeding and spreading. Weeding is one of the most crucial things to do before creating a fall garden for the following reasons:

• Weeds can invite unwanted pests into your garden, which will cause many difficulties for you and your plants.
• Weeds utilize the water and essential nutrients available to plants.
• Weeds can make the growth of roots more difficult.
• The growth of weeds overloads the garden beds, making them susceptible to bacteria and fungus.

Weeding your garden beds thoroughly before autumn is beneficial for seasonal crops and overall garden health. Wear gardening gloves to remove weeds safely and more effectively.

Related Post:Tips for Getting Rid of Weeds in Your Garden

4. Plant Spring Bulbs

Fall is the time to plant spring-flowering bulbs for a beautiful flower garden in spring. Plant daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, bluebells, and tulips, as they need cooler weather to grow. Water the bulbs thoroughly to help them get established before peak winters. Label the plants so you are aware of what you planted where. This will remind you of the bulb type planted, so don't plant something else in the same area.

5. Plant Fall Annuals

After removing spent annuals from your garden, plant fall flowering annuals to add color and beauty to your fall garden in the following months; plants that are happy in spring are usually happy with mild fall weather, too. Add pansies, dahlias, sunflowers, snapdragons, aster, goldenrod, and petunias for a gorgeous, colorful fall-blooming season. The pollinators will also appreciate the fresh fall-blooming nectar plants.

Read More: 10 Flowering Shrubs for Your Fall Garden

6. Split Your Perennials

If your perennial flowers are well-grown and formed big clumps, fall is the best time to divide them into portions. Replant one portion back in a similar spot, put another anywhere in the garden, or gift it to your neighbor or friend. This works best with hardy perennials like phlox, peonies, lady's mantle, geraniums, Astrantia, and lungwort. Enrich the soil before replanting.

7. Harvest Summer Vegetables

In late summer, vegetable growth becomes slow, and they will soon be replaced with autumn veggies. You might have some ripe beans to collect or some ripe tomatoes still on the vine. When these plants stop producing, it is time to pick all the produce. Many of these plants can be thrown into the compost bin. However, be aware of adding acidic veggies such as citrus and tomatoes, and don't add diseased plants to compost.

8. Plant Fall Garden Vegetables

Late summer is an excellent time to plant the fall veggies from the seeds. Summer vegetables such as eggplant and peppers can be taken out, and cool-season vegetables such as spinach, beans, carrots, kale, radishes, or cauliflower can be planted. Learn what to grow in a fall vegetable garden.

9. Clean Up Your Garden

Clean your yard to fully enjoy your autumn garden. Remove all the dead or diseased plants from your garden and make it more organized. Yard clean-up in the fall is important to avoid difficulties and workload in the spring season. Add dead plants to your compost pile. Dispose of diseased plants by burning or throwing them in waste bags. Diseased plants in compost can spread problems and affect your soil health.

10. Build New Raised Garden Beds

The fall season provides gardeners the best opportunity to build new raised beds. At the time of fall, filling a bed is less expensive because garden soil is available at a very low price. You can build raised beds using wood and non-wood materials such as stones, bricks, and metal. Once you have built garden beds, fill them with good quality soil mix and let them sit in winter so they can be ready for planting next spring. Building new raised beds in the fall will save you precious time in spring and summer.

11. Water Thoroughly

Now is the time to hydrate your plants with proper irrigation, especially after dry summers. After you have taken care of all crucial fall gardening tasks, give your garden a long drink. After hot summers, the soil loses moisture quickly, so you should give it a good soak to settle back in. This is also beneficial for the root development of recently planted fall plants.

12. Clean and Store the Garden Tools

The last fall gardening tip on our list is to clean and tidy up your garden tools properly and then store them in a dry place to prevent rusting over winter. Sanitizing gardening tools is also important to avoid the spread of infection. Remove dirt from all your garden tools. Over time, tools like pruners, shovels, trowels, spades, and mower blades can become dull. Use a file to sharpen their edges, and then apply a thin layer of vegetable oil to prevent rust during storage.

For equipment like mowers, weed whackers, and tillers, drain the gas lines and change the oil if necessary. Store these tools in a dry, covered area to protect them over the winter.

Final Thoughts

Fall gardening is a rewarding endeavor that allows you to extend your growing season and ensure an abundant harvest even when the weather cools down. It is a perfect time to mulch your beds, pull out summer bloomers, prepare new ground for planting, and plant spring-blooming bulbs. You can enjoy the summer bounty in the early fall months without summer heat. A little planning and care now will result in a healthier and more beautiful garden in spring and summer.

With these fall gardening tips in mind get ready to make the most of the fall season, enjoying worry-free winter and free time in spring.