6 Fall Gardening Tips

6 Fall Gardening Tips

As part of our guest post series, we feature local companies who specialize in their respective fields. Today’s post is by Instant Lawns.

For many gardeners, the gardening season isn’t over until snow starts to fall. In order to maintain a beautiful garden, there are many steps that must be taken for the long winter ahead. Here are six fall gardening tips that can help create the perfect fall landscape, and help prepare your garden for the spring to come:

Plantings

Many tree and flower perennials should be planted in the early fall, before the weather gets too cold and the ground gets too hard. Some perennials you should plant in the fall include:

  • Trees such as maple, horse chestnut, ash, cork, linden, pine, spruce and elm
  • Flowers including tulips, astilbe, nine bark, viburnum, daylilies, peonies, hostas, daisies, oriental poppies and phlox

Weeds

It is always a good idea to pull weeds in the fall to help avoid more weeds in the spring. By doing this small task now, you’ll be saving yourself from a much larger task when the snow melts and spring comes.

Fertilize

It is always highly recommended that you fertilize your lawn and plants in the fall, as this will help them flourish in the spring. It will also give them the nourishment required to survive the long winter ahead. Plants and lawns will thrive in the spring with this much needed pre-winter boost. However, avoid fertilizers near trees and shrubs as this will stimulate growth prior to the time they are going into dormancy.

Transplant and Divide

If you have new trees or shrubs you were thinking of transplanting in the spring, do not wait. Fall is the season for transplanting these types of plants. It is best to do this in October. You can also divide your spring and summer blooming perennial plants in October to help organize your Ottawa garden and prepare it best for the coming seasons.

Remove Annuals

Remove your dead summer annuals. You can then fill in the empty spots with hardy fall flowers such as mums or asters. This will help to keep weeds from seeding and growing in the spring.

Watering

Most gardeners do not realize that they must continue watering their lawn and garden until the ground freezes. Dry soil kills roots and puts undue stress on plants, so be certain to water early in the day. Your lawn can be watered until it turns brown as long as the soil has not frozen.

The fall landscaping required by Ottawa gardens takes quite a bit of work. By following these six fall gardening tips, your garden will be all the better come the spring.


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