10/24/2017
THE ADVANTAGES OF PLANTING A GARDEN IN THE FALL.
"Autumn Is a Second Spring"
At first thought, spring, with its explosion of buds and shoots and sprouts seems like the best time to put new plants in the ground. But spring in much of North America has quite a small window for planting—between the last frost and the onset of hot weather. Some of the days in that window will be rainy, making the soil muddy and hard to work with a lot of the time. The soil takes a while to warm up from a winter's worth of cold; a new plant's roots grow slowly in chilled earth.
In fall, the soil still holds summer's warmth, which encourages root growth up until the ground freezes. Fall planting gets perennials, shrubs, and trees off to a faster start the following spring. In mild-winter parts of the country, fall is even more emphatically the superior season for planting because roots can keep growing all winter.
Plants shift their objectives when the sun wanes and the temperatures go down. They stop the spring and summer work of making leaves, shoots, flowers, berries, and fruit. All their energy goes into establishing roots.
Trees, shrubs, and perennials put into the ground in fall don't have to deal with heat and drought early in their young lives. By late next spring, when things begin to heat up, the plant's roots will be up to the job of absorbing and circulating nutrients and water. The class of October 2017, in other words, will be better equipped next summer than their brethren freshly planted in April 2018.
Fall is a fantastic time for planting, and there are some significant benefits to planting in the fall as opposed to the spring. The cooler air temperatures in the fall make planting easier on both the plants and the gardeners. Perennials, trees, shrubs, turf grass, mums, spring-blooming bulbs, and cool-season vegetables can all be successfully planted in the fall. If you are interested in planting bulbs for spring you might want to consider planting tulips or daffodils.
Autumn soil is still warm between 55 and 75 degrees, which allows roots to continue to grow until the ground freezes in the winter. During the fall, a plant’s leaf and flower production is normally slowing down and approaching dormancy. Therefore, a plant can focus its budding energy on root production, which means that the roots can continue to grow even when other parts of the plant cannot. Plants with an established root system are better equipped to withstand heat and wind the following spring and summer.
Planting in the Fall
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Fall usually includes more days for planting due to the unpredictable weather and abundance of rain in the spring that makes working the soil nearly impossible. Another bonus of planting in the fall is that your plants will require less water due to autumn’s cooler temperatures. Milder temperatures and more dependable rainfall help plants acclimate quicker in the fall than they would in the spring.
Autumn rain is typically lavish, but it is actually easier to deeply water plants if it does not rain at least an inch per week. An added benefit to planting in the fall is that pests and disease problems diminish during the season.
You do not need fertilizer in the fall because it promotes fresh, gentle growth that can be affected by harsh winter weather. It is best to stop fertilizing by late summer. The window for planting in the fall generally ends about six weeks prior the first hard frost. September and October provide ideal temperatures to get perennial plants off to a great start.
Gordon Chandler September 27, 2017
