Fall For it!

​Summer is coming to a close and it’s time to get outside for some seasonal tasks.  Fall is a great opportunity to get back into our yards to tidy up spent blooms and prepare for freezing temperatures.  It is the ideal time of year to install new trees and shrubs because it allows the maximum acclimation period for plant roots to be well-established before the hot temperatures return next summer.  Fall also signals a change in nature’s color palette including inspiration for what we can plant for seasonal impact.  

One of the most interesting choices for Fall cleanup is dependent on your preference for tidy versus texture.  Ornamental grasses and some perennial plants are transitioning to a winter state of slumber.  Above ground stems dry out and turn from vibrant greens to shades of brown.  Those stems that remain upright can continue offer texture, shape and movement in our landscapes until needing to be cut back in early February in anticipation of new growth.  For those who find that extended appearance messy, it is also permissible to trim back the dried stalks during Fall.  Either way, you’ll have new interest in your landscape.

​Your Fall garden checklist includes many tasks that will pay off next Spring.  Here are some things to consider doing during the next few months:

• Identify pruning needs for trees and shrubs.  Timing depends on the specimen so check saved plant tags and mark your calendar accordingly.
• Refresh containers with cool-season plant materials.  Incorporate pumpkins, gourds and dried materials for a naturalized aesthetic.
• Replace summer annual flowers with cool-season pansies, violas, wax begonias, ornamental cabbage/kale and other foliage companion accents.
• Dig up and divide spring-flowering perennials (irises, coneflowers, daylilies, oxalis and others).
• Cut back spent perennial stalks based on individual plant character preferences.
• Fertilize existing turf and plant materials for the last time this calendar year.  Apply all-nitrogen for clay soils and high-nitrogen for sandy soils with a high percentage of the nitrogen in slow release form.
• Gently feed new plants and transplants with an initial slow release, high-nitrogen fertilizer.
• Plant new trees and shrubs following first-year care instructions closely.
• Rake up fallen leaves for composting or as a mulch blanket in flower beds.
• Watch for plant sales as nurseries and big box stores ready for the holidays.  Select perennials and plant promptly leaving the summer annuals on the store shelf! 
• Mow over wildflowers and spread seeds in planned wild spaces.
• Select Spring bulbs you’d like to add in your flower beds refrigerating only those (tulips & Dutch hyacinths) that require it for 45 days.  Wait to plant all refrigerated bulbs mid-December.  Others (daffodils, narcissus & grape hyacinths) can be planted once purchased.
• Identify established tree roots that threaten hardscaping and remove selectively relative to trunk size.
• Watch for Fall webworms in large trees and prune out promptly.
• Reapply mulch over and around new plantings or in bed areas where thinned out in advance of freezing temperatures.
• Keep an eye out for migrating Monarch butterflies stopping by your asters and mums.   Have fresh water available for birds heading south seeking refreshment and to maintain their flight feathers.
• Create or add to your wish list for outdoor landscape updates.

Fall officially begins September 22nd and the average first freeze for northcentral Texas happens mid-November so do your best to get your to-do list underway.  Enjoy the rains and cooler temps this (my personal favorite) season brings while embracing the cue for change signaled by nature, in the garden.  Go ahead and Fall for it!