Fall Gardening Tasks

By the time that October rolls around, most gardeners are ready to throw in the trowel, retreat indoors, and curl up by the fire with a good book. But if you haven’t finished battening down the hatches and tucking in everything for winter, you won’t rest easily and spring will reveal a much bigger cleanup job than you expected. Think of cleaning up your garden in fall as akin to cleaning your house before you leave for a vacation. Just as coming home to a clean and orderly home makes transitioning back into your normal routine easier, starting in spring with a garden that’s ready to go is a joy. Here are several fall chores that will make winter a truly guilt-free rest for you and your garden. Also see Winterizing Your Graden

Harvest any remaining warm-weather vegetables before the first freeze.

If frost is imminent and your tomatoes are still green, here are a few easy tricks for getting them to ripen faster on the vine. Or if there’s an early frost warning, you can pick your tomatoes early to ripen indoors. No matter how early they may have been started indoors or inside greenhouses, there always seem to be a few holdouts every year that stubbornly stay green as the weather begins to turn dangerously close to freezing. That’s because as a tropical perennial in its native Peruvian highlands, land of eternal summer, the tomato plant doesn’t have the same biochemical triggers other plants have that forces it to wind down and produce seed quickly as temperatures start to dip.

Trick #1: Pinch off the top of the plant. This prevents the plant from growing any taller and producing more flowers. You can also remove any green fruits that haven’t yet reached their mature size. Without its resources being wasted on growing immature fruit to full size, the plant can channel its energy into ripening the fruit it’s already produced.

Trick #2: Ripen tomatoes indoors with a bit of apple peel. If a sudden early frost has you bringing in all your unripe tomatoes indoors, you can speed up ripening by placing your tomatoes in brown paper bags (loosely and in single or double layers, not piled heavily on top of each other) with a bit of fresh apple peel inside. Always pick mature green fruits. These are the ones that have grown to full size and may already have a slight tinge of yellow on the outside. Keep the unripe fruits in a cool, dry spot in the house at temperatures between 68°F and 75°F for best results—never refrigerate them, which not only halts the ripening process, but can turn the flesh mealy after prolonged cold exposure.

Fall is for planting, and transplanting!

Many folks are surprised to learn that autumn runs a close second to spring as an ideal planting time, but it’s true: cool temperatures, reliable rainfall, and short, bright days help plants make a quick and easy transition to your landscape. Despite the cold weather lurking around the corner, the entire first half of autumn (and then some) provides ample opportunity for plants to grow roots and get off to a good start in their new home.

Still-warm soil and relatively cool air temperatures promote healthy root growth in plants that return each year. Take advantage of end of season sales on trees and shrubs at local nurseries, and divide or move perennials around the garden in fall. Ideally, give the roots at least six weeks to settle into their new home before the ground freezes. Once the ground is frozen, root growth will cease almost entirely until spring, and that six week window gives the plant time to get established enough to withstand cold and snow. The date that your ground actually freezes varies from year to year, of course, and some areas won’t have frozen ground at all. If you’re unsure, mid-November is a safe planting deadline for nearly everyone.

Autumn weather can be quite cool and rainy, but that doesn’t mean that new plantings should be ignored, particularly if weather has been dry and/or windy. Water all plants thoroughly after planting, and continue to water them as needed until the ground freezes.

Continue to water the garden.

While it might look like your plants are going to sleep, their roots are still actively growing in fall. Evergreen perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as anything you’ve recently planted, will need to be watered until the ground starts to freeze. If you live in an area that receives abundant rain in fall, you might not need to provide much supplemental water. But if rainfall is less reliable, water deeply at least once per week.

Remove annuals from containers and landscapes.

It was a great run, but by the time fall rolls around, it’s time for the annuals to go and store your pots away for winter. It can be tough to do since long bloomers can still look great in the fall, but once frost hits you’ll wish you had pulled them sooner. Healthy annuals can be composted; any diseased plants should be disposed of.

Consider planting cool-season annuals to keep color and interest into the late fall season.

Cut select perennials back.

It is not necessary to clear-cut the perennial garden after the first freeze of the season. Leaving the leaves, stems, dried flowers, and seed heads of many perennials provides more interest through the winter months. Leaving the plant materials also provides an extra layer of protection for the crown and root system of the perennial. Plus, the dead stems and leaves collect fallen leaves, adding even more protection. Leaving the plant material in place and removing it in early spring instead of fall also helps provide food and protection to native pollinators, beneficial insects, and wildlife, such as birds.

It’s a good idea to clean at least some of their foliage out of garden beds. This is especially important around plants like hostas that have received slug damage during the growing season. Slugs lay their eggs in the dormant foliage, and removing it in fall will cut down on slug issues the following year. Fall is not the best time to prune shrubs.

DO NOT cut these perennials back in fall: Evergreen or semi-evergreen perennials, Perennials with woody stems, Perennials with winter interest.

Bring Houseplants Back Indoors

Many of our houseplants enjoy a “summer vacation,” spending the warm summer months outside in a full or part-shade location. When nighttime temperatures start to dip consistently to around 50°F in the fall, it’s time to bring houseplants back indoors. Before bringing houseplants inside, check for insects. Once inside, keep plants isolated from other houseplants for 3 to 4 weeks. Typically, if there is going to be an issue with common indoor plant pests, it will be evident after about a month indoors. Inspect often and carefully and address any issues as soon as they are noticed.

Take cuttings of your favorite tropicals

Some tender plants might be too big to move indoors or, perhaps, not really worth the effort to dig up, but you still want to have them next year. That’s when taking a few cuttings in early fall comes in handy. Cuttings of plants like coleus and geraniums are easily rooted either by planting them directly in small pots of soil or sticking them in a glass of water on a windowsill until you have time to pot them up. These cuttings might not look happy after a long winter indoors, but with some springtime TLC, they’ll be off and running in no time.

Plant spring blooming bulbs.

Fall is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and a wide variety of others you’ll find at your local garden center this time of year. Pair them with perennials like Shadowland® hostas and ‘Cat’s Meow’ catmint so the bulbs’ foliage will be hidden by the time it goes dormant. If squirrels, voles or chipmunks are a problem in your garden, spray the bulbs with an animal repellant before you plant them or cover them with a layer of chicken wire to prevent animals from digging them back up.

Put away water hoses, and drain spigots

All it takes is one night below 32°F to crack and ruin your favorite watering wand. And if you don’t winterize your spigots, you might find yourself with a flood in your basement as a result of a burst pipe. Before freezing temperatures set in, disconnect your sprayers, drain and store your hoses, and winterize your spigots by turning off the water and draining. Think you’ll forget? Invest in frost-proof spigots that don’t need to be winterized.

Organize and winterize garden tools and equipment.

Clean, sharpen, and store tools. You can use 3-IN-ONE® Multi-Purpose Oil [or Linseed Oil] on tools to remove surface rust as well as prevent rust. This household product is a must-have in the garden toolbox because it’s an effective cleaner, lubricant, and protectant. A few drops on your steel blades and other metal tools will dissolve rust and keep the moving parts on your pruners and loppers clean and smooth. Just wipe it on and wipe off the excess.

On your shovels, spades, and blades, apply a thin coat of 3-IN-ONE® Multi-Purpose Oil to the metal surfaces to create a barrier against oxidation so your tools stay protected in storage. And do not forget to oil the wooden handles on tools. See How to Care for Garden Tools