Garden Center at Garner #3631

On a fresh fall day, take advantage of the weather and do a second round of planting and outdoor maintenance. Now is a great time to get flower bulbs and fall flowers in the ground. Read on for more on fall garden maintenance, fall planting, and how to transition to your fall lawn and garden.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Patch up bald spots on your lawn by overseeding them. Autumn is a great time to fill in dead or brown places in your yard. However, you should try to keep leaves off 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 your lawn is in good shape, make sure it stays that way by applying lawn fertilizer if you have cool-season grass. Aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer to get the most bang for your buck. 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 bulb plants that greet the springtime sun, plant them soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, certain bulb flowers, like freesias, should be planted in spring instead. Find ideas for spring flowering bulbs and plan your daffodil, tulip, and iris displays now. Onions and garlic can go in, too, for a harvest next spring or summer, but they won't need soil additives.

Encourage deep roots by sprinkling bone meal in the surrounding soil before you plant the flowers. Follow the instructions on the package and do not apply more than recommended. If you do add more, you may end up with a tulip plant with one or two gigantic leaves and no blossoms, for example.

There are instances where you can use something else and skip the bone meal. If you've already got exceptionally healthy soil that's full of nutrient-rich compost, just plant the flower bulbs. Superphosphate is an option if your dog finds the smell of bone meal delicious. It's also wise to use phosphate if your property has squirrels, raccoons, or mice who may want to dig up the bulbs and bone meal for a tasty snack.

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 frost and freeze damage to extend their season. You can get extra life out of your garden by covering your plants with buckets, tarps, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse or blanket, 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 in the morning when the thermometer goes up again and let them enjoy that autumn sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to bid a fond farewell to the garden for the winter.

Put the Garden to Bed
When the sun angle changes and your annuals start looking rougher, dig up the plants. Northern climates might be putting the garden to bed for the season in October or November, while warmer climates might wait until November or December. After your annuals are done blooming for the year, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the dead plant debris. Feel free to let them decay to enrich the soil unless you had one of two exceptions: if your plants dealt with blight or if you had a snail problem.

For gardens overrun with snails and slugs or if your plants struggled with disease, put the old plants in a leaf and lawn bag for disposal. You don't want to bring the disease or snails to next year's garden. However, if you have a compost pile in the corner of the yard, feel free to add the slug-riddled plant parts there.

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 rototiller or shovel. You want to loosen the earth so the topsoil goes down and the deeper soil comes up. 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 need to replenish certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Indoor Gardening
Gardeners with potted plants can extend their growing season by bringing the 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, and rotate them regularly to give all the leaves equal sunlight. If the pots don't have built-in overflow dishes, be sure to add shallow bowls beneath them to catch any extra water.

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 find the one that matches your decor style.

When you're curious about how to build or choose an outdoor fireplace, we have the supplies you need. Bricks, mortar, a wheelbarrow, trowels, and more — let us help you get this fall project done. If you'd love some extra heat but rather not install a fire pit or fireplace, we also have patio heaters, including gas, propane, and electric models.

Ease Into Fall
This fall, tidy up your yard with us. We've got everything you need for putting the garden to bed, leaf cleanup, and restoring nutrients to your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of outdoor living products in our mobile app, online, or in the aisles of your Garner store.