After all the bloom and activity of the spring and summer vegetable gardening, autumn is a moment of calm in the garden. If you’re lucky, the first few weeks of autumn will be an Indian summer. This nice weather makes it a pleasant time to potter in the garden and get everything sorted and ready for a winter rest. This article provides autumn gardening tips to enable you to prepare your garden for a healthy, fruitful spring.
Tips For Autumn Garden Care
Autumn gardening can involve growing crops, flowers, and shrubs for that season depending on what growing zone you live in. Or in colder regions, it can be more about cutting back, cleaning up, and preparing for the spring.
If you continue to dead head your flower garden and perennials you can prolong their flowering further into autumn. At some point, you will need to replace your warm weather perennials with cool weather perennials. These hold up to the cold better- like mums, celosia, and golden rod.
Autumn vegetable crops can include greens like collards and lettuce. Root vegetables like beets, turnips, and parsnips do well. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts also do well.
Autumn Gardening Involves Preparing For the Winter
If you have tall and long reaching plants, autumn is the time to reinforce their support to ensure they can survive the strong winds of autumn and winter. This may require more than just a single support. It could be worth considering investing in some sturdy supports such as ring or maypole structures.
It’s great to get garden maintenance over and done with in the autumn. Clear out gutters and water spouts in preparation for heavy rainfalls. If you have canes or nets you required in summer but no longer need in autumn, take them down, clean and store them. Sharpen tools and fix ladders, sheds, or other equipment in preparation for their heavy use in the spring and summer months.
If you have a green house, early autumn is the time to use it to house plants which are vulnerable to frost and the winter cold. If you do not have a green house, then a conservatory or utility room are suitable alternatives.
Clear and collect falling leaves throughout the autumn as these are great to add to your compost. Try to avoid burning or trashing any of your autumn garden waste and instead compost as much as you can. Mulching your plants in the autumn will protect their roots and you can use all the great compost you make in the Autumn on your spring garden.
Fall Gardening Also Involves Planning Ahead For The Spring
Autumn is a good time for clearing and tidying the garden and making plans for what you will plant where in the spring. As it is a great time of year for planting spring bulbs, autumn is a good time to consider whether you want to make rearrangements or changes in the garden. If you want to make major changes, you could dig up some lawn to make a new bed for spring bulbs, or tackle that part of the garden which has never been a success and plant some spring flower bulbs there.
In terms of landscaping, autumn is also a good time to lay new lawn; however, this is only advisable if the soil is relatively dry and not too wet. A quick overseeding in the fall can help your yard look much more green and lush in the spring.
I hope you found these autumn gardening tips helpful. Which ones were new to you? If you have questions about your fall garden, reach me on social @familyfocusblog. I’d love to help out or see a picture of your garden!
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