Fall into Gardening
FALL! It has officially arrived!! Cooler days and nights, bond fires, smores, hanging out in the back yard with friends, and of course pumpkin spice…fall must always include pumpkin spice. :-P
As we head into the colder months and prepare for our first frost, there are a few things you can do to help your garden for the current season and next season.
Tip # 1 - Clean up. Gardening clean up can be so much fun! Depending on what you’re planning for the fall in your garden, you’re either creating a blank canvas or space for new plants! It’s time to harvest any summer veggies left and pull them. If your plants are not diseased, you can add them to your compost pile.
Tip # 2 - Compost. Fall is my favorite season for composting!! The abundant leaves are always so much fun to gather and throw them in the pile. My kids typically rake for me, which they enjoy because they create their leaf pile to jump in! If you don’t have many trees, there are plenty of people who bag their leaves to take to the landfill. If you ask, most will gladly part with them, having no idea what kind of gold they’re giving away! :)
Tip # 3 - Prune. The typical time to prune is in late winter when your plants are dormant. But there are a few things you can prune now. Berry canes can be pruned now and dead or dying branches on trees can be pruned as well.
Tip #4 - Mulch. If you’ve followed along this year, this isn’t the first time you’ve seen me mention mulch. Mulch has so many benefits to add to a garden! For the winter season, it becomes an insulator for your plants, protecting the roots of the plant. A nice layer of mulch, about 3” will do wonders! Over the winter it will break down adding nutrients to the soil and your plants!
Tip # 5 - Bring in tender plants. Bring in your favorite children to protect them. :-P Sometimes as a gardener there are some plants that you’ll want to grow but they aren’t particularly suited for our zone. These are the ones I place in pots and bring in around this time of year. For example, I have a lemon tree, lime tree, and a flowering maple. This year, I planned on growing jalapeño in a pot as an experiment and will bring it inside to see if we can have jalapeños all year! Who doesn’t like a little spice in the middle of winter to warm them up?!
Bonus Tip: It’s time to harvest your sweet potatoes, pumpkins, gourds, and squash! Cure them correctly, and you can have a supply of yummy squash through the winter!
Although summer is my favorite season, I do enjoy the experience of the changing of the seasons. There is always something to marvel at through each season. In winter, I enjoy our once or twice a year snow and the way frost can change a plant. In spring, I enjoy the warmer weather and watching buds unfold. In summer, I love the heat! I know I’m one of very few who love the heat but I do. And despite the heat, plants persevere through. In fall, I’m entranced by the changing colors of leaves. In the a garden you can catch all of these things and it is never the same from year to year.
Next month we’ll go over a few more gardening tips to prepare for winter!
If you weren’t ready to start a garden this year, that’s okay and it’s actually not too late to start! Call, text, or email us to discuss the options for gardening this time of year! And as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
