Get Ready For Fall Planting

14 August, 2012 Reply
You can do a lot of planting in the fall

Don’t put your tools away until the frost is on the ground!

In many parts of the country, fall is just as good a time, maybe even better, to do serious planting. That is especially true of trees and shrubs, as it gives them time to grow a good root system over the winter months, without having to worry about keeping leaves going, too.

In any area of the country you can plant until the ground freezes hard. Now, I would recommend you know when the average first frost date is for your area, and plan to finish up around that time. If you know your area really well, have lived there for a number of years and have paid attention to the weather patterns, then you can probably stretch it some or even a lot. However, if you’re a relative newbie to the gardening realm, then plan on calling it a season around the average first frost date.

In some parts of the country, here for instance, fall is really the time to plant a lawn. This confuses a lot of people, as when they think “seeds,” they think spring. However, the grass will come up, have time to put down enough roots to keep it going, then when the cold hits it no longer needs to grow up, so it grows out, with nice long strong roots that will help it be strong and green, able to withstand weeds attacks, in the spring. Timing is important with this, as you need to make sure you get the grass far enough along that it can withstand the winter, and, unfortunately, every once in awhile you’ll have a really nasty winter and it just won’t take, but that’s rare.

Most perennials plant well in the fall, too. You can buy small plants, pint size, and put them in. Over the winter they’ll put out roots and the next spring you’ll have as big a plant as if you had bought the gallon one to begin with. Just remember to look at the mature size of the perennial so you don’t crowd them too close. It sometimes takes a lot of faith to believe that tiny little plant is going to cover the large area you’re leaving for it, but most grow really fast.

If you live in a milder climate you can do a winter vegetable garden. Most of the cole crops will make it well into the late fall or early winter, in some areas, with just a little bit of protection, they’ll go all the way until the warm weather hits in the spring. I’ve gone out on Christmas day to harvest chard and kale for our holiday meal. I think last year we even had some lettuce still going, but that’s rare. We had an extremely mild winter last year.

So, don’t dismay, if you’re landscape plans aren’t as far along as you’d like, you may have another three to four months of planting, if you’re in the right zone.

When was the latest or earliest you’ve planted something and had it survive? Mine was a clematis that I bought way too early. I planted it in February. I’ll have to share the whole story in my next blog…

Planting Fruit Trees In Fall

9 September, 2011 Reply

Now’s a great time to put in an order for bare root fruit trees. If you live someplace where the soil doesn’t freeze until late November or December that’s even better. Putting in fruit trees in the fall can really give them a great start. Instead of having to take off and make leaves and fruit right after planting, they get a whole winter to put down roots.

One thing you need to do with fruit trees planted in the fall, and really any time, is protect the trunk from the sun. In the winter the dark bark can warm up substantially. This can cause the sap to start flowing and the plant to take up more water than necessary. When the temperatures dip down below freezing at night this can cause the trees trunk to crack from the sap and water. You can purchase a white trunk protector or paint them with white paint. This will reflect the sun and keep them from breaking dormancy early, as well. Watch the trunks though, as they may get too big for trunk protectors in one season (mine did).

When buying fruit trees, look for varieties that do well in your area. Also, look for when the fruit ripens and try to get varieties that ripen at different times. There is usually an early, mid, and late time period. Having one of each will ensure a longer period of fruit harvest and not having to deal with hundreds of pounds of fruit ready all at once.

Be aware of fruit diseases and pests before you plant, too. I didn’t know that peaches are nearly impossible to grow in the southeast without chemicals, there are so many diseases and pests that attack them. I might not have planted them, since I only grow organically. We’ll see how they do. I’m going to try the clay sprays next spring. The plants will look weird, but maybe we’ll get a few peaches…

To plant the tree dig a whole that is twice the size of the root ball and deep enough to accommodate the roots. Plant the tree deep enough that the root that is going to be closest to the surface will end up 1” underground. Planting too shallow causes root suckers. Refill the hole with just regular soil. They’ve found that trees that get special soil around the roots will often try to keep their roots just in that area and will girdle themselves and die. Don’t fertilize them now, do that in the spring, as you don’t want to encourage them to break dormancy. Water them in well and don’t let them get overly dry throughout the winter. You’ll be rewarded with a healthy tree that is much larger than one planted the previous spring, most of the time.

Fall Planting

10 October, 2010

One way the garden industry goofed was making spring appear to be the only time for planting. Many plants can be planted in the fall, as well, some even prefer a fall planting.

In many areas you can plant trees, shrubs, and perennials until late into the fall, as long as the ground hasn’t frozen. There are even some vegetables that when sown in mid- to late-summer will give you a whole second crop of fresh produce through the fall months.

Some of this depends on your climate, check with your Ag Extension, as mentioned earlier, for information. For instance, in many areas of the south planting grass seed in the fall is preferred over the spring, because the weather gets too hot for the young grass during the summer. It just withers and dies.