Fall is the perfect time to prep your garden for winter, so there’s a nice list of things you can do before the freezing weather hits.
Start by making sure all of your plants and the surrounding soil gets plenty of water. Most of the time, plants that don’t make it through the winter months died because they didn’t get enough water.
Do you have any plants that won’t survive the fall or winter because they need a certain amount of daylight hours or a specific temperature? Geraniums, begonias, impatiens, gerbera daisies, fuchias, and dalias, for example. Bring those plants inside for the season.
Plant spring bulbs in the fall, such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and crocus. Plant them now, and enjoy their beautiful flowers in the spring. It’s also a good time to plant kale, cabbage, pansies, fall mums, and Michaelmas daisies.
As far as your lawn goes, October is the perfect time to apply fertilizer. If needed, thatch or aerate your lawn before applying fertilizer. You can also seed your lawn through the middle of October, if you want to grow more grass.
Got a compost pile? Add fallen leaves, old vegetable parts, and grass clippings to the pile, which will benefit gardens to come.
October is a good time to get rid of weeds, because they wont have the chance to flower and seed before winter.
If your garden produced vegetables, October is harvest month, so harvest vegetables during their peak of flavor.
Got slugs? Now is the time to eliminate them with your method of choice: baits, beer, salt, etc.
Fall is also a good time to transplant trees or other plants, because there is little shock involved. It’s perfect timing to purchase new plants, as local shops usually have big selections of new greenery.
Take advantage of the cool weather and tackle your lawn and garden before winter hits!