Fall is the perfect time to bust a move in your garden. The weather is cooler so you’ll sweat less – save yourself on some laundry – PLUS the cooler weather is beneficial to your perennials (or future perennials, perhaps). This is the season to re-arrange, share, dream big and expand your operation (more fruit anyone?). We’ll cover all this in Part II of my three part series, The Fall Garden Grind. You can find Part I of this series here.
Installing new plants or entire garden beds
It might not seem intuitive to put new plants in the ground when winter is approaching, but Fall provides the perfect window for perennials to become adjusted to their new home without the onslaught of summer heat. They’ll usually overwinter and start off the new season on a stronger foot.
Take the opportunity to start your new flower bed, or create that berry hedge! Lots of garden gems are perennial and can be planted right now including many different herbs, flowers, shrubs and fruit. Even some vegetables like sunchokes, onions and horseradish (is that a vegetable?).
The weather is nice and cool for shoveling out that uninspiring grass, so tackle your dreams with you can! Make sure to dig in a generous amount of compost, then transplant those new babies. Just don’t make the same mistake I did – take precautions to keep the grass from invading your new bed with something akin to this. Finally, lay out a generous blanket of mulch. Read my post here for more details on that.
Squeeze in some more fruit!
Everyone loves to have fresh fruit to graze on in the garden. Now is a good time to plant perennial fruits. You can even plant trees this time of year. For all your fruit needs (trees, shrubs and more) I highly recommend One Green World. Their catalogue keeps me dreaming! If you’re tight on space, there are still plenty of fruits to grow that are not as large as a tree, and this catalogue probably has fruit you’ve never heard of. Take a look! We have been growing several things from them, including our white pearl currants, and our cherry tree.
Here is two year old R planting our new cherry tree! My how that tree, and that girl, have grown in just a few years!
Dividing perennials
I’m all for supporting your local nursery, but remember that most perennials easily divide. I cringe if I ever see someone buying mint! So while I didn’t recommend splitting your rhubarb back in the springtime, now is a great time to get a cut from a neighbor. With that said, I grow six different varieties of raspberries and I don’t regret buying some of those. It can be nice to know exactly what you are getting, including the varieties’ name and history.
It is very easy to start a new plant from an existing perennial. These plants are usually quite hardy, and this cooler weather is the perfect time to dig in. Really, dig in. Slice a chunk off with your shovel, trowel, or even a knife.
The most important point is to make sure you get a piece of the root. You ought to also get some of the foliage, and you’ll easily be propagating a new plant!
Happy planting!
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