Five fall tips to get your garden spring ready
With fall in full swing, hopefully there is food on your table that was grown in your own garden, giving you the kind of satisfaction only a gardener can enjoy.
And as winter looms, your investment of time and effort in your garden now will reward you in the spring. Here are my top five practices for a great-looking lawn and garden right now: 1. Dig and divide: The perennials in your garden that have been there for five years or more may be ready for a move. Even if you replant a division of, say, a hosta or rudbeckia in the same place, the plant will perform better in the long run and you will have divisions that you can plant around your yard or give away. Any perennial that has a fleshy root can be dug now and divided.
To divide perennials, dig up the entire clump or, if that is unmanageable, a portion of the existing clump using a garden fork. Cut the clump in half using a garden knife or sharp spade, and if it is big enough to cut again into quarters, go for it. Replant the divisions in holes that are prepared with generous quantities of compost and existing soil or use triple mix. Water thoroughly. 2. Plant: Many garden retailers still have a great selection of plants including trees, shrubs, roses and perennials that can be planted now. More to the point, they are better planted now than in spring! As autumn progresses, the warmth of summer still radiates through garden soil, encouraging young feeding roots to grow. These white, fibrous roots support new growth come next spring. Plus, retailers are anxious to find a new home for their remaining inventory, often providing attractive discounts this time of year.
The key is to water your new plants thoroughly at the time of planting and again before hard freeze-up. 3. Harvest: Time to pick the remaining “frost tender” fruits like tomatoes and peppers. Store them in open containers in the garage for the next month or so — until hard frost poses a threat even there. Then bring them into your cellar. Onions should be hung to dry in a shed or garage, out of the sun. Harvest what remains of your herbs and store for winter. Take time to collect seeds from mature plants including beans and peas that got away from you (perennials too). 4. Pull annuals: Petunias, geraniums and the like are done, or close to it. When you yank them from their containers and the garden be sure to put them in your compost bin where they will rot down into wonderful humus that will make a great additive to your soil next year. At the very least put them out in your green bin for the professionals to compost them. Same for cuttings from soft-tissue perennials like hosta and peonies. Fill in blank spaces in your garden with fall mums, flowering kale/cabbage and asters. Plant spring-flowering bulbs now, too! The tulips that you dream about come spring will only arrive with your investment this fall. 5. Your lawn: I cannot over emphasize the positive impact that lawn care this time of year will have throughout the year. Apply winterizer fertilizer now (or any time up to late November). Look for a lownitrogen/high-potash product with slow-release nitrogen in it. I like 12-0-18 best of all.
Rake leaves off of your lawn and onto your garden, where they will rot over the winter. There is still time to lay sod to fill in bare patches or to create a new lawn. If you sow grass seed now you will likely get germination but very little root growth. This only works in lowtraffic areas where it will not be disturbed till spring.
Cut your lawn at 6 to 8 centimetres high and use a mulching mower to return the nitrogen-rich goodness of the grass clippings to the root zone of your lawn.
With only one or two lawn cuttings left in the season be sure to lubricate your power lawn mower. Sharpen and clean it with a mower-deck scraper. Manual walk behind lawn mowers should be sharpened and sprayed with light oil before you put away for winter.
Above all, while you while away a few hours in the garden this weekend, take time to soak it all in. We have fresh air, a great growing season and the freedom to enjoy it — to name just a few of my favourite things. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster and garden editor of Reno & Decor magazine. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Watch him on CTV Canada AM every Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. Email him at groundskeeper@markcullen.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.