5 tips for Fall Planting
Fall Planting Season is coming
Here’s 5 easy ways to get ready for all that planting!
Habitat gardeners have so much more fun in the Autumn gardening season!
Why?
Because we DON’T waste garden time:
~ Mowing or blowing leaves.
Instead we leave them to protect overwintering insects like Queen bumblebees AND to feed the birds all Winter long!
See more about ‘lazy’ Autumn gardening HERE
Habitat gardeners also get more Autumn gardening fun because we don’t “clean up the plants”
For example, we’d never cut back dried flower heads of our native plants.
Why not?
Well those are SEEDS for overwintering birds and next years plants!
It’s simple really. Bird eat the seeds & drop the seeds to the ground, which become new plants in the Spring.
So if we’re not ‘cleaning up our plants’ for Winter what do we do instead?
WE PLANT THEM for next year’s pollinators and birds!
That’s right … AUTUMN is for planting native perennials
Why Autumn?
Soils are warmer that the air temps giving roots MONTHS to grow strong roots for those Spring blooms!
Autumn rains ‘water in’ native perennials helping plant roots grow deeper
NO STUNTING! Planted in Autumn, native perennials do not get stunted by Summer heat waves or Spring’s drastic temperature changes.
YOU skip waiting for the plant to grow out of it’s “sleep year” and jump into it’s ‘creep year’ in Spring
But before you can ‘dig in’, you know WHERE you’ve been.
So grab a cuppa, pen & paper friend…
Think about your habitat garden this past year.
Then consider & answer for these 5 POINTS
How did your soil handle dry & wet weather days? Any places where your garden had too much water or not enough? Does your soil have LIFE in it like earthworms & ‘roly polys’? Do you need more compost?
Did your sunlight & shade areas shift thanks to growing trees, shrubs, or taller perennials?
What were the gaps in Spring & Summer ? Remember Spring actually begins in our area in early March! Think about flowering times & foliage gaps when bare soil was easily seen. THEN make your Fall Plant Shopping List to fill the gaps
THINK LIKE A POLLINATOR & BIRD— were blooms & plants in mass & easy to find? Was there ample water sources & places to perch, nest & hide?
and last but not least
#5 Tidy your garden work area like your shed or potting bench.
First make 2 boxes (or piles, you know who you are! LOL!)
One box/pile is for items you want to keep. THINGS you actually USE like by-pass pruners and wooden plant tags.
the other box or pile… this is items you don’t need or won’t ever use.
Now Friend…
You know you have ‘things’ in there you’ll never use…
All gardeners ‘stash’ treasures for a raining day project or 2, or 7 or 13. LOL!
Take a look in the garden shed or potting bench… you’ll see ‘em in there collecting dust…
Like those 20 chipped up clay pots from Cousin Bill
or the big bowl you saved 3 years ago for making a bird bath… someday
Now put all those ‘unneeded in the box/pile
Put all the ‘keeps’ away in their pile
then make a list of items needed (aka remember those shears you lost in the garden??? Yeah you’ll need to replace those!)
For you unwanted treasures… don’t forget you can sell & swap for ‘all the things” you don’t want at our 1st annual Gardener’s Market!
With all the thinking & tidying done
Now all you need is a Autumn plant list
Simply look over your answers to questions 1~4 then make your plant list!
YIPPEE! it’s the part we’ve been been waiting for!
I find ‘filling in the gaps’ with plants is easier with the database at WILDFLOWER.ORG
This tool by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is AMAZING and so easy to use.
You can even filter by state, soil conditions, and season. Plus each species will have lots of images by naturalists and gardeners.
Why should you have a plant list?
You’ll start your Autumn planting season prepared and in the know of:
what native plants you REALLY want to add to your habitat garden
WHERE ALL THE NEW PLANTS (or transplants) will go
tools you’ll need for all the garden fun (I always add a nice Autumn tea to my shopping list!)
AND…
Before Autumn begins
You’ll be all set to enjoy the beauty of Autumn planting season and a head start on SPRING gardening!
Why you’ll even have a tidy workspace AND a PLAN!
You’ll also have 2 lists based on your needs
One for plants and another one for tools, odds n’ ends for your garden!
In September, when all the plant sales start at small nurseries like ours
AND GUESS WHAT!
YOU WILL SAVE $$$ shopping from your plant & tools list!
But the BEST PART of all this AUGUST PREPARATION FOR AUTUMN PLANTING SEASON?
I don’t know about you but if i can find ALL my tools in one place I’ll have way more fun! LOL!
Seriously though…
Not only will you enjoy Autumn gardening and planting more …
BUT YOU’LL BE ALL SET FOR NEXT SPRING!
Just imagine it…
Next year, on a SWEET SPRING MORNING in early May…
while everyone else is rushing about cleaning & trying to find their trowels…
YOU DEAR FRIEND will be sitting in your garden or on your porch…
in a ray of gentle warm sunshine…
sipping a cuppa…
watching pollinators & listening to the birds.
All because those gaps are filled with growing native plants & buzzing pollinators.
Heck you don’t even have to clean your garden shed!
August gardening never looked so good!
I hope this post inspires you to putter in your garden shed & prepare for the fun of Autumn planting season!
Don’t forget friends share posts & ideas!
Comment below with a favorite Autumn gardening tip, memory or tool ect. And share this post on your social media!
Until next time ~ keep growing for pollinators!
~Melanie
More tips live on the ‘Gram
