Greetings!
Fall the most beautiful time of the year and a great time to plant perennials. Many spring blooming native perennials are best planted in the fall. The warm soil helps them quickly establish a strong root system. In the spring they are already in the ground and ready to blossom for you.
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Fall Planting
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Plant now  |
The fall is an excellent time to plant. There is abundant soil moisture and cool temperatures encourage root growth. Plants easily become established. In the spring they take off and provide years of natural beauty. This is especially true for early spring bloomers such as Hepatica,Spring Beauty, Dutchman's Breeches, Squirrel Corn and Bloodroot.
Now is a great time to start a new shade garden or meadow garden. If you have large lawns fall is a great time to remove turf and plant beneficial native plants. Lawns provide little habitat for insects, such as butterflies, moths and bees. If you want to encourage humming birds or song birds use native plant to provide food and cover.
Some people worry that there is not enough time for plants to become established before winter. This is not the case, the soil remains warm into November, as long as the soil is unfrozen roots continue to grow. This means your garden will look better and be more established in the spring. Start planning now and place your order for mid to late September delivery if they are shipped. You can also pick plants up at one of our fall sales or at the nursery.
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Fall Preparations
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Fall Woodland Garden  | What do you do with your native woodland garden in the fall? I get asked this a lot. To prepare for winter and have the beds ready for new early spring blooms, I make sure the beds are free of weeds. Weed seeds will germinate in the spring so get rid of them now before they leave their seeds in your garden.
I leave seed heads on the plants that birds or other creatures will use over the winter. After all that's what native plants are for, making communities and habitat.
Before leaves begin to fall I mix leaf compost with bone meal or bulb food. Just a little bulb food about 2 cups in a five gallon bucket of leaf compost will do a good sizes area. I sprinkle the mixture lightly over the garden to replace what nutrients the fall leaves would have provided had I not removed them in the spring. I leave the leaves that fall from the trees in place until the snow melts in the spring and then I remove them. I do this so that small seedlings are not suffocated by heavy wet leaves. I want my plants to multiply from seed and form naturalized beds. I also do this because early spring plants will grow through the leaves but I have a better stand by removing the leaves. You must be careful when removing them from Dutchman's Breeches and other plants that come up very early so you don't break the stems.
Then in the spring I apply a thin layer of mulch in the spring about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. For a great spring garden prepare now this fall.
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