Gardening and Landscaping Tips: Fall Planting

Contributed by Rick Vuyst at Fruit Basket Flowerland

Plant It All In The Fall!

Yard Rejuvenation

If it’s been a long hot summer and it looks like the yard has been on vacation and your lawn or landscape is a little rough around the edges, you’re in luck! Late August through the end of October is the perfect time in West Michigan to renovate or rejuvenate a lawn and landscape!

Cooler temperatures and natural rainfall combined with a plant’s tendency to focus on establishment versus top growth make the fall season in Michigan the perfect time for yard renovation. Not only do the plants enjoy the season; the weather is much more pleasant for you as well!

Fall planted lawns, shrubs, perennials, and trees enjoy the warm soil and cooler air temperatures to establish a good foot hold in your landscape. They have an advantage over plants put in the ground in spring. Some of the nicest yards and landscapes in the neighborhood during the spring are the yards where owners invested in August, September and October. After the fall season of establishment comes a period of rest and dormancy we call winter. By the time spring arrives and the plants or lawn “wake up” they are well established and familiar with their surroundings. By the time next summer arrives they are prepared for the stress that season can bring to the landscape.

Here are some yard rejuvenation or renovation ideas for this fall!

• Plant some mums, sedum, asters and ornamental grasses for color and interest now. These perennials among others can provide instant interest now and establish themselves for future years of enjoyment. Perennials can be used in containers where the spring planted annuals have faded. Grasses are perfect for this purpose. In November simply remove the perennials from your containers and sink them in the ground to protect the roots for winter then reuse them again next year!
• Plant some pansies and other cool weather tolerant annuals like ornamental kale. Pansies are perfect because they’ll add bright color to your fall landscape and will over-winter under the snow to provide beauty next March, April and May!
• Clean bird feeders or put up new feed stations and keep these stations stocked with fresh clean birdseed. Birds add color and movement to the landscape. They’ll appreciate the buffet and will learn to visit your yard in the approaching cold months.
• Plant a tree or flowering shrubs. Many trees and shrubs are at their best in the fall season for providing color. In addition, they appreciate a fall planting to establish themselves in your landscape and will reward you with years of enjoyment. Use a liquid plant starter fertilizer at the time of planting so they put their energy into root establishment into the warm soil. Many shrubs like Itea, Clethra and Viburnum put on a great fall color show! Trees like Maple, Ginkgo, and Dogwood paint the outdoors in color.
• Evergreens are great for fall planting. Evergreens play an important role in the fall landscape providing backdrop and diversity from deciduous plant material. Evergreens provide cover and protection for wildlife like birds in the landscape. Evergreens also benefit from fall planting with little stress on the top portion of the plant and great benefit from the weather for root establishment.
• A light (1 inch) layer of mulch can provide some protection for plants for the winter season while providing some color and texture now to the fall landscape.
• Plant spring flowering bulbs during September, October and November. From daffodils to tulips, hyacinths to alliums, crocus to anemones and so much more, these beauties are easy to grow and will gift you next spring with color! Plant to at least the recommended depth in a well drained soil with some bulb fertilizer and put them to bed for winter. Next spring your renovated landscape will burst into color. You can sit back next spring and enjoy the fruits of your labor this fall.

Lawn renovation or rejuvenation

Make sure to fertilize your lawn this fall. A good winterizer fertilizer will thicken your lawn so it’s ready to go next spring! Of all the feedings you give your lawn, the fall feeding is one of the most important.

Fall is the perfect time for killing weeds in the lawn and landscape. As plants begin to shut down for winter in the landscape they are busy translocating nutrients to the root system. When you apply a herbicide to the foliage it is efficiently moved into the root system for a more thorough and systemic control. Perennial weeds like dandelions, ground ivy, even poison ivy are more efficiently controlled with fall applications. If you plan to be seeding a new lawn or area in the lawn (see below), consider preparing the area by killing off weeds with glysophate (Roundup) at least 2 weeks before seeding. This will kill off unwanted vegetation

Fall is perfect for turf establishment. In Michigan, the perfect window of opportunity for establishing a lawn is from Mid August to early October. This can be done in 5 different ways:
New lawn seeding
Lawn renovation
Sod
Spot seeding
Over seeding

As with all lawn projects including the 5 mentioned above, soil preparation is key to success. Till the soil to at least 4 to 6 inches for good root penetration. Amend the soil mixing peat moss, topsoil, lawn soil or compost in with the parent or existing soil. This is important. Do not put good soil on top of parent or existing soils. Till in good soil as an amendment to improve moisture and nutrient retention capability. Use a starter fertilizer for good establishment, health and vigor. Use of a quality starter fertilizer can be the difference between a weak thin lawn and a thick healthy turf.

Consider using some bales of compressed peat over the lawn in areas that don’t have good moisture retention. This is an easy way to improve the soil in areas of established lawn. Do this on a calm day breaking the bale open over the lawn and lightly raking it in. This simple improvement can rejuvenate lawn areas that suffered during the heat of summer.

A lawn renovation or overseeding project on the lawn can be accomplished by also core aerating. A core aerator is a machine that can be rented and run over your lawn pulling up soil cores. This improves oxygen levels in the soil and helps resolve compaction issues. Fall is a great time for core aeration as the lawn both benefits and recovers quickly in this season. Follow up your aeration with over-seeding and fertilizer. This is a great rejuvenation exercise to restore or renovate tired established lawns.

We have the right seed mix for your rejuvenation project. Use a good quality seed mix for good results. Our high quality mixes are available in bulk so you can buy just the amount of seed you need in a mix well suited for the area you are renovating!