Autumn is often called the "back to" season; back to school, back to work, back to regular schedules. As we say good-bye to August, most "green thumbers" are welcoming September with great expectations. Now that the demands of our busy summer schedules are past, we are looking forward to enjoying many cool, sunny days in the garden.  The possibility of successful lawn and garden improvements increases during autumn in Southwest Michigan. The tried and true path to a beautiful spring garden and a strong, healthy lawn is to begin improvement projects now. Everything seems to be in favor of both gardens and gardeners. With the encouragement of fall fertilizer, grass grows better, many plants transplant better in the autumn than in the spring, humidity levels drop to make gardening more comfortable, insect activity decreases, garden weeds offer less competition, September skies are more clear and blue, rains become more dependable, and the autumn colors thrill our souls.  Besides all that, Scarlet Maple trees and euonymus burning bushes are beginning to show their autumn plumage and Autumn Joy Sedum, chrysanthemums, ornamental grasses, fall anemones, asters, pansy plants, and Sweet Autumn Clematis are all taking over as garden highlighters in our September gardens.

Autumn sends out a strong signal to many green-thumbers to plant trees. I can't remember an autumn when I haven't planted a tree at our home, a friend's house, or on the church grounds.  Each time we plant a tree, we plant not only for our own benefit, but a legacy for those who follow us to enjoy. Besides increasing future property values, trees help supply the oxygen we breathe, help keep our air supply fresh, provide food and shelter for birds and wild animals, slow down forceful winds, cut noise pollution, provide cooling shade, camouflage harsh scenery, hold soil and keep silt from washing into streams and lakes and beautify our surroundings with pleasing shapes and seasonal splashes of color.

Trees accent our homes and gardens and break the monotony of endless miles of asphalt and cement. Do we miss the value of trees?  We need to look no further than Milham Road, South Westnedge Avenue and many other residential and commercial developments. In the name of progress so many beautiful shade trees were removed and now Portage sports several concrete and asphalt deserts.

Planning tree plantings carefully as well as selecting varieties that are site-specific and have a long useful life is very important. The following are some of my favorite trees for Southwest Michigan.

October Glory and Red Sunset are the best Scarlet Maples. They are super hardy with their heritage in Michigan and are fast growers. The one in my landscape has grown to over sixty feet tall in about thirty years. October Glory and Red Sunset Maples put on a spectacular show of red and orange foliage each October and adapt well in moist soils, withstanding frequent turf irrigation when many other trees fail. 

 
Sugar Maple rightly claims the title "queen of all Michigan trees" and is probably the best known maple tree. Sugar Maples grow best in deep, rich, well drained soil. Sugar Maples grow tall and broad so they are best used as a background in well- designed landscapes. The rich orange fall leaves make the Sugar Maple a Michigan favorite.

The Ginkgo tree is truly an "old timer". The Ginkgo represents an ancient plant group unlike any other living conifer. Most of us would not identify a Ginkgo tree as a conifer. We usually think of conifers as evergreens. Ginkgo trees defy this logic as they drop their golden leaves in the autumn like a deciduous tree. Ginkgo trees are slow growing and are very resistant to both insects and diseases.  Ginkgos are very tolerant of city conditions and make an excellent tall background tree.

 

One of my favorite families of trees is the beech. I like these tough, enduring giants. Plant a beech in a good environment and it will be an asset for at least a hundred years. Beech trees have gray bark and large, sturdy branches that stretch way out to provide great shade and protection. The beech family offers us several leaf colors to choose from including copper, green, purple, and tri-color.  Beech trees need space to develop to their fullest and grow best in deep, rich, well-drained loamy soil.

For many years, white bark clump birch were widely planted and enjoyed in our area, but were often afflicted with birch borers. We can now enjoy the beautiful shape and white bark of the birch tree because of the new and improved White Spire variety. White Spire Clump Birch is superior to European or Paper Birch. White Spire Birch has pure white bark and is resistant to Bronze Birch Borers.

"Sturdy as an oak."  "Slow as an oak." These are two slogans often used depicting the perceived characteristics of oak trees.  When describing a Pin Oak, sturdy is ok, but not slow!  Pin Oaks, given proper care, are amazing with their fast growth.  We have a specimen in our landscape that grows at a two-foot-per-year clip. It is now fifty to sixty feet tall at the young age of twenty-nine years. When the leaves turn red and orange in October, Pin Oaks are spectacular.

Blossom for blossom, when it comes to comparing flowering trees, it's hard to beat Sergeant Crab. Hardy as an oak, Sergeant Crab will take all a Michigan winter can throw at it and still come through like a champ, blooming every spring. Sergeant Crab grows to 10 feet tall, is a very dense grower, is covered with beautiful white flowers every May, and has small, bright red fruits that hold on until the cedar waxwings, robins, and cardinals eat them in the winter. Sergeant Crab trees are also size controllable. They may be pruned to any shape or size desired. Sergeant Crab trees are very resistant to leaf spot diseases. Look around and you'll see most Sergeant Crabs haven't lost a lot of leaves this summer.

These are some of my favorite deciduous trees that, given a good growing environment and minimal care, will perform well for many, many years.

When the need or urge to plant a tree arises, be sure to visit Wedel's Nursery where over one hundred tree varieties await you.  Wedel's eleven Michigan Certified Nursery Specialists will help you select the right shade tree for your site.

After tree selection has been made, plant it right. For over forty years, the following method has worked well for me. First, dig a planting hole twice as wide as the container the tree is purchased in and about fifty percent deeper than the depth of the container.  Discard subsoil taken from the hole. Dig until the soil that will drain is reached. Mix thoroughly equal parts of composted cow manure, sphagnum peat moss, and the top soil from the hole.  Mix the correct amount of mycrorhizae starter innoculant into the soil planting mix. Measure depth of the pot and back fill hole with your soil mix. Set the tree in the hole, being sure tree is no deeper than the depth it was growing in the nursery. If soil drains poorly, build up the planting site three to four inches above the surrounding area. Next, remove container. If there are roots visible, gently pull some of them away so they will grow outward away from the root ball. Backfill the hole, lightly firm soil, finish filling the hole. Soak the soil with Root Stimulator as backfilling is completed. Allow a hose to trickle water on planting for twenty-four hours. When watering is complete, mulch new tree planting with two inches of cedar bark in an area the width of the branch system. Be careful not to touch the bark mulch to the trunk of the tree. Tree wrap should be used for the first two winters.  Use three guy wires to reinforce tree and promote root establishment. Planting trees using these suggestions will guarantee success for you and for future generations.

Oh, by the way, when planting your trees, be sure to bring a camera. Gather the family and take several snapshots for future enjoyment.  Then dedicate each tree and name them after someone special. The Scarlet Maple that shades our deck was named after our grandson, Nathan. When Nathan was young, so was the tree, but always large enough so he could climb it.  Ah! Fond memories!

The raspberry patch could use some attention now also. When there are so many other garden chores, like picking tomatoes and sweet corn and pulling weeds, it's so easy to overlook our raspberry plants. Prune out all canes that produced early summer fruits. Keep rows cultivated to prevent quackgrass from getting a foothold. Then apply three pounds of Plant Tone around each plant and cultivate in lightly.

If the deciduous trees and shrubs in your landscape are losing leaves prematurely, take action now. Falling leaves this early is often indicative of low soil moisture conditions and spring leaf disease infections. Homeowners who value their landscape plants need to thoroughly soak the soil around all trees, shrubs, and evergreens in September and October. Failure to irrigate plants in the autumn could result in winter die back or death of plants, reduction of root mass, which will result in poor growth, and possible insect or disease damage. Adequate irrigation of woody plants means running a sprinkler for three to six hours in each position every three to four weeks.

All valuable trees and shrubs should be fertilized each autumn with Tree Tone.

Does your lawn look a bit stressed?  This summer was very tough on lawns. Now is a good time to apply Scotts Lawn Pro Fall Fertilizer to restore a good green color and improve turf density. Lawn bare spots? September is the best month to sow grass seed. Visit the garden center and talk with our Lawn Pros. They will gladly share information with you so your lawn improvement project will be successful.