Historical September–October 2019 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Fall is the best time to prepare your yard or garden for spring.
There are many things you can do to prepare your plants to thrive. Adding compost to lawns and gardens in the Fall is always a smart idea. Fall compost reduces thatch, encourages beneficial soil life, and helps reduce soil compaction. For lawns, ½ inch of compost is recommended. Cotton burr compost, a common industrial by-product, is available at many garden stores.
It is best raked over lawns because it may contain some larger chunks. Winter weather decomposes these quickly. Cold winter weather freezes the pests that live in compost, like Japanese grubs and beetles, that may infest spring lawns and gardens. For garden beds, 2 to 3 inches of cotton burr compost can be used.
With this much, the compost is also serving as a protective mulch. Cover crops is another way to get your garden ready for the spring. Gardeners use cover crops for two purposes.
First, they can be used to choke out weeds.
Some gardeners use annual ryegrass for this purpose. Planted in the fall, annual ryegrass can prevent weeds and will die back in the coldest part of winter. Second, cover crops are also used to add nutrients to the soil. Field peas, hairy vetch and some clover varieties can be planted in the fall for nitrogen, and then spaded into the soil a few weeks before planting in the spring.
It is common to cut back perennial garden beds and mulch over them, but it often depends on what kinds of perennials grow there.
Some perennials are not cut back to give some visual interest over the winter (grasses), to provide food for birds (black-eyed susans), or to prevent disease and encourage spring growth (catmint). Mulching in the fall helps prevent weeds and protects plants and can make mulching unnecessary in the spring. September, October and November are good months for dividing replanting flowers like irises and daylilies.
This gives them enough time to get established before cold weather makes them dormant.
These are also the best months for planting spring bulbs, like tulips and daffodils. Summer blooming bulbs, like gladiolus or dahlias, are best planted in the spring after the last frost. Fall is also a great time for planting many trees and shrubs. One of the main advantages of fall planting is that cool, wet weather encourages root growth. Trees have time to establish a stronger root system.
When air temperatures are colder than soil temperatures, root growth is stronger than top growth.
However, it is important to plant them early enough in the fall to catch the cool wet weather. Trees and shrubs planted after November may struggle. Whatever you do, a little work in the coming months can help your lawn and garden come back to life quickly with less work in the spring. Get outside and get your spring garden ready now!
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2019.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2019_09.pdf, printed page(s) 4; PDF page(s) 3.
