Garden Center at Oxford #866

When a cool day breezes in, hinting at the seasonal change, take advantage of it to do outdoor maintenance. Trees and bushes need a trim with a pole saw as they're slowing growth for the season. Fallen leaves are likely a concern, so check out leaf bags, blowers, and rakes. Also, remember to get a wheelbarrow and buckets to contain a bountiful fall harvest. You may even be able to garden throughout fall and into winter. Read on to learn how to transition to your fall lawn and garden.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Patch bald spots on your lawn by overseeding them. Cooler weather is a great time to fill in brown, dead, or bare places in your yard. However, be mindful of fallen leaves on freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs sun, water, and air to grow, and leaf litter can block out the sunlight and air it needs to germinate.

If you're in a northern climate, prepare your cool-season grass for the fall with lawn fertilizer. Aerate your lawn before fertilizing to get those nutrients down near the roots quickly. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any pesky fall weeds that show up. Warm-season varieties, like those in the southern states, are winding down their growth for the year. It's better not to fertilize it now, as you don't want fresh grass growing right before it goes dormant. Taper down watering on warm-season lawns.

Plant Flower Bulbs
If you've got your eye on spring-blooming bulb plants, get those planted soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, certain bulb plants should be planted in spring instead. Find ideas for spring flowering bulbs and plan your tulip, daffodil, and iris displays now. Garlic and onions can go in, too, for a harvest next spring or summer, but they won't need soil additives.

Skip the soil amendments when planting onion or garlic bulbs instead of flower bulbs. Simply plant them now, pointy-side up, and you'll have a fresh harvest by next summer. These plants will spread though, so be careful not to let them flower, dry out, and go to seed after they mature. Snip off the dried flowers to avoid planting a field of volunteer garlic and onion plants.

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap and then warm up above freezing, cover your plants. Protect your garden from freeze and frost damage to extend their season. You can get extra life out of your garden by covering your plants with tarps, buckets, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse, and they'll survive a frost. Read other fall-planted perennial tips, too.

This works well early on, until you're fully into the colder parts of the season. Uncover the plants when it warms up again and let them enjoy that fall sunshine. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to bid a fond farewell to the garden for now.

Put the Garden to Bed
When your annuals start looking rougher, it's time to dig up the plants. Northern climates might be putting the garden to bed for the season in October or November. After your annuals are done blooming for the year, dig them up and dispose of the detritus, or dead plant debris. You can let them return their nutrients to the soil, but there are two exceptions: if your plants dealt with disease or if you had a slug problem.

If your garden is prone to snails, you'll want to let the old plant matter decay elsewhere. Snails and slugs dine on decaying plants. Moving those plants to another location will help prevent your garden from being overrun by these creatures in the spring. Although slugs and snails are often considered garden pests, they're still part of the ecosystem, so relocate them elsewhere on your property if you can. As for the exception of your plants struggling with blight or disease, simply pack up those dead plants in the leaf and lawn bag to avoid passing any issues on to next year's crop.

After you've removed the old plants, you've got a clean slate. Prepare your garden bed for the spring by rotating the soil with a shovel or renting a rototiller. You want to send the topsoil down, bring up the deeper soil, and loosen the earth. It helps nutrients penetrate and lets the soil rest. It's also an excellent opportunity to test the soil and see what, if any, soil amendments you need. Different crops and plants use different nutrients. Test your soil to see if it's balanced or if you ought to restore certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Indoor Gardening
Gardeners with potted plants can extend their growing season by bringing delicate plants indoors to a sunny window. Indoor gardening allows both outdoor plants to live longer and indoor plants to bring joy into your home. Just make sure they get enough water now that they won't benefit from rainfall, and turn them regularly to give all those leaves equal sunlight. Be sure to add dishes beneath the pots to catch any extra water if they don't have built-in overflow dishes.

Warm the Outdoors with an Outdoor Fireplace
Stretch out your fall evenings with a patio heater, fire pit, or outdoor fireplace to take off the chill. No matter if you're looking for outdoor heaters for decks, small patios, or cozy porches, we've got options. All you have to do is pick the one that matches your decor style.

We've got fire bowls and fire pit tables ready to warm your outdoor space. Check out stylish propane fire pits and natural gas fire pits in a variety of shapes. We've also got woodburning fire pits and the firewood to stoke them. You can even build your own with fire pit kits or make it completely custom and learn how to build an in-ground fire pit to fit your vision. Find the best fire pits for your backyard or stop by your closest garden center to see what's in stock.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, prepare your garden and lawn for the seasonal change with us. We've got everything you need for leaf cleanup, putting the garden to bed, and replenishing nutrients in your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of fall garden care online, in your local store, or in our mobile app.