Your Fall Garden
Posted on September 30, 2013 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
Once summer has passed many people think it’s time to relax and wait for spring to resume work in the yard. However, October is an important month for gardening. The change to cooler 
weather offers opportunities for you to influence your home landscape now, and in the future. Take these steps to make your landscape more productive, healthy and attractive.
Refurbish flower beds; plant fall flowers.
Pull up bedraggled annual flowers (collect seeds for next year) and trim perennials. If needed, amend the flower beds with compost, garden soil and new mulch. Then the fun begins. I go hunting and shopping for one of my favorite flowers, the pansy, a member of the viola family, always debating what color combinations I’m going to plant.
Don’t plant until the weather has cooled down, usually mid to late October. Pansies and violas are very cold-tolerant plants. You can also add the smaller varieties of violas like Johnny Jump Ups. Violas come in many beautiful and vibrant colors and color combinations, are easy to care for, last through the fall, winter and spring in our climate, and add a pop of color to an otherwise drab winter landscape. For lots of blooms (as with most flowering plants), dead head old blooms by pinching them off with your fingers. Fertilize about once a month, as they like rich, organic soil. Pansies require heavier than normal fertilizing, but don’t overdo it.
Fall is also the perfect time for planting flowering kale or cabbage, snap dragons, dianthus, dutch iris, and spring bulbs including daffodils, amaryllis, hyacinths, anemones and crocus. Most bulbs need 45-60 days of cool weather before bloom time. You can ensure this by putting them in your refrigerator for the same period of time before planting, but this isn’t always necessary. With tulips, this is an absolute requirement in our climate. You’ll usually do better with bulbs specifically suited for our zone, which is zone eight.
Divide your perennials; pass them along.
Divide and plant spring-blooming perennials like day lilies, phlox, Louisiana and bearded irises, dianthus, coreopsis, coneflowers and daisies. If you have leftovers, share them with friends and neighbors. Many of my most treasured plants come from someone sharing from their gardens locally and long distances. On my last cross country trip, my car looked like a mobile greenhouse. Every time I see one of those plants in my yard it brings sweet memories, reminding me of the friends and family who gave them to me. The givers are also great resources to educate you on how to grow them successfully.
Put in a winter vegetable garden.
Vegetables that do well in a winter garden include beets, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, carrots, Swiss chard, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, radish, spinach and turnips. Check your soil pH for best results. October is also good for strawberry plants. Strawberries established in the fall have a much higher yield the following season.
Replace/add shrubs/trees.
With summer heat largely over, and freezing temperatures yet to arrive, now’s the time to replace unsightly, diseased or dead shrubs and trees and/or put in new ones. This provides a stress-free time to establish roots and acclimate to their new environment before the colder winter temperatures hit. Be sure to water-in the first few weeks until established. Add mulch to all beds to ensure plants are protected against the cold. For color, choose trees with beautiful fall leaves such as the sugar, red and Japanese maples, dogwood and ginko. Colorful shrubs include viburnum, smokebush and nandinas.
Happy Fall Gardening!
Eileen Webb is a member of the Capital City Master Gardener Association. For information on becoming a master gardener , visit the website, www.capcitymga.org or e-mail capcitymga@gmail.com.
