A great time to be planting bulbs, trees, shrubs

For those of you who are anxious to do some serious gardening in the cooler weather we are finally experiencing, there are lots of tasks that can be accomplished right now and some of this work will reduce your workload next spring.

The grass seed I planted three weeks ago is up and growing quite well and there is still time to do some spot seeding, but it is getting a bit late for a major lawn renovation. Any open areas in the vegetable garden can be tilled and seeded with a cover crop right now.

Quick growing cover crops, like oats, will be up in a few days and will be killed with the first hard frost, which could happen any day now in northern areas. Perhaps the hardiest cover crop is winter rye, which can be seeded as late as mid-October and will still produce a thick hay crop by next May.

The downside to winter rye is that it will produce a sod that requires mechanical tillage to till it in. Frost killed oats will be pretty much rotted by spring and do not make a “sod”. Winter rye is also allelopathic which means it suppresses the growth of many weeds as it grows. Cover crops are always a good idea to prevent soil erosion and they add organic matter to the soil as well.

Not too many years ago the only things planted in the fall were spring flowering bulbs. Of course from now until early November is the optimal time for planting spring flowering bulbs, but it is also a great time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials.

There are several good reasons why this is an ideal time to plant. First, cooler daytime temperatures put much less heat stress on plants, especially on their root systems. Shorter days encourage root growth and soil temperatures are now warm enough to support root growth, unlike April and early May when plants struggle to grow roots in cold soil. The roots of plants planted now will continue to grow right up until the soil temperature drops to near 40 degrees which may not occur until mid-November. This is why it is important to continue to water newly planted trees and shrubs right up until Thanksgiv-

ing, even after the leaves drop. I realize that nothing has needed to be watered for the past few weeks but it could go dry yet. Another great reason to plant now is because many garden centers and nurseries have fantastic sales going on! Perennials, trees and shrubs may not look quite as nice right now as they did in May but at 15 or 20% off, you can purchase that many more for the same price and they will look even nicer next year.

There are not too many vegetables we can safely plant now, perhaps some lettuce, spinach or other greens for a late fall salad. Garlic, however, is best planted in late September through mid-October.

The planting site for perennials or garlic should be tilled or spaded to a depth of 6 inches. Four pounds of a 5-1010 fertilizer ( 2 pounds of 10-10-10 or equivalent) should be raked into each 100 square foot of bed prior to planting. Organic gardeners can substitute 20 pounds of composted manure or four pounds of cottonseed meal plus four pounds of bonemeal for the 5-10-10. Extra time spent now in thoroughly preparing a perennial bed by killing off all weeds and tilling in organic matter will reward you in future years. After planting perennials mulch the area with 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch such as bark chips, shredded bark or wood chips. This mulch will delay the soil from freezing even longer, allowing more root growth.

For trees and shrubs, make sure you dig a very wide, but not particularly deep hole. Root growth is primarily horizontal, as 85% of a tree’s roots will grow in the upper 6 to 8 inches of soil. Do not bury the lower stem by making the hole too deep. A 3-foot-wide hole is not too wide for a tree with a 1-inch thick trunk, but 12 inches may be too deep. Add nothing to the soil you put back into the planting hole. The soil you excavate is the soil the tree or shrub needs to adapt to, adding compost or other organic matter will allow lots of root growth but may limit root growth to the amended area. Apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch, such as shredded bark, also and do not let grass grow to within 1 to 2 feet of the base of the plant.