Fall is best time to install new plants in landscape
Spring fever is a feeling that is impossible to avoid. Cold winter months limit and restrict our time outdoors, so when warmer weather returns, we cannot wait to get outdoors and into our yards and gardens. For most people, this only happens once a year and it is always in the spring.
There are others, like me, who get a similar feeling as we head into fall. I truly love being outside in the yard, but I struggle with the excessive heat and humidity. My efforts seem to be limited to the necessities of watering and mowing the grass. Because of this, I look forward to the fall season with energy and optimism.
There are always a few things we intend to do in the yard in the spring that for various reasons do not get accomplished. Most frequently it is a self-imposed expiration date that comes with the arrival of summer. Summer brings golf courses, swimming pools, and vacations, all of which are enjoyable no matter how hot it gets.
Fall is the season that is perfect for procrastinating gardeners. Now is the time to get back into the yard and think about the projects you left behind in the spring. We are truly entering the best time of the year to work in the yard. The cooler temperatures would be the most obvious reason, but more importantly, fall is without a doubt the best season to plant. When you are planting in the fall, you are putting the plants into warm soil. At the same time the air temperatures are cooler. This is what the plants want. The warm soil stimulates the roots of the plant to start growing. The faster the roots start to grow the quicker the plant becomes established.
The weather conditions in the spring are just the opposite. When we are coming out of the winter into spring it takes a long time for the soil temperature to rise. It’s usually sometime in late April or early May before the soil temperatures have risen enough to encourage roots to grow on new plants. This leaves little time for the plants to develop a strong root system before getting into summer.
This creates a major challenge for those who do not consider themselves to have a green thumb. When the summer heat arrives, there is always a struggle for many people to find the proper way to keep plants watered. The challenge of proper watering creates situation just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears – too much, too little, and just right.
This is the most frequent reason plants fail when they are planted in the spring. Summer arrives and homeowners are not sure how to care for them. This can be avoided when landscaping projects involving planting trees and shrubs are completed in the fall.
When you plant trees and shrubs in the fall the weather patterns move in a direction that is favorable for new plants. We also get more frequent rain. This combination greatly increases your ability to achieve success. It will also drastically reduce the need to provide and extra tender loving care to keep your new plants alive.
If you lack confidence to add new plants to your landscape because your spring efforts have not produced satisfying results, maybe you need a change of season. Fall is the best season of the year to install new plants in your landscape.