Fall is For Planting. Really? Fall?

Every year around this time you see this sign or banner at every nursery and garden center: “Fall if for planting.” In fact, since you see it every year, like clockwork (much like the sign “Mums the word!”), you have probably never stopped to think about what it means.

First off, the sign is right. Fall is the optimal time to plant perennials, trees and shrubs for a few reasons. First, consider what happens when you plant in spring...the soil has not yet warmed to a temperature that is optimal for roots to establish, so the plant grows at a slower rate. At that point, it is in a race with summer heat. Plus, you might not get the lush flowers or foliage until the following spring. Is that to say that spring is a lousy time to plant? Absolutely not. But fall has all the right conditions for success.

In autumn, the ground is still warm from the summer, meaning that roots grow faster and the plant establishes more quickly. The days are growing shorter and cooler, meaning that there is less stress on the plants. And fertilizer applied in late fall is more effective in promoting plant growth than spring-applied fertilizer. Taking that into account, perennials, trees, and shrubs planted in fall will spend the season establishing themselves, meaning that they will absolutely take off in the spring!

Fall is also critical when it comes to lawn care. If you have to, dethatch (or preferably, hire someone to dethatch) your lawn. Chances are that it won’t need it. Check by getting at ground level and, using a pencil, measuring the depth of the thatch. If you have more than a quarter inch, your seed may have trouble making contact with the soil, and you’ll have to dethatch your lawn. By the way, a thatch problem is usually the result of over-fertilizing...so keep that in mind. Rent or hire someone to core-aerate your lawn after a rain or a thorough watering. This loosens the soil to promote root growth.

Once your soil is ready, you might want to add lime to your lawn BUT get a soil test first to determine if it’s needed. Then comes the important part...seeding and fertilizing. In general, you want to fertilize six weeks after overseeding, so as to not burn the tender new blades. But you don’t want to fertilize too late, either, so get your timing right. Ideally, you’d want to seed in early-September and fertilize in late-October, early-November. Be methodical when it comes to watering. Generally July and August are dry months here, with rains returning in fall, but they are not predictable, so stay on top of it.

Even though spring gets all the credit, fall is a crucial time for lawns and gardens. So when you see the old “Fall is for planting” sign, now you know why.