Garden Center at Hanley Rd & 40 #3002

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 fall flowers and flower bulbs in the ground. Neaten up your bushes and trees, too, with chainsaws and pole saws. Read on for more on fall gardening and how to transition to your fall lawn and garden.

Fertilize or Patch Your Lawn
Repair 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, 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 fertilizing to get those nutrients down near the roots right off the bat. An edger gives extra polish to the perimeter of your yard. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any weeds that show up. It'll need different maintenance than warm-season grass, which goes dormant as the weather cools. Taper down watering on warm-season lawns.

Fall Gardening
Fall planting is often overlooked, but autumn is the perfect time to get additional flowers in your garden. Mums, the nickname for chrysanthemums, provide a beautiful burst of fall color. Find them in shades of pink, purple, white, yellow, orange, and red. Surprisingly, pansies can overwinter as far north as parts of The Great Plains, so consider adding them. They're hardy, but mums are even tougher. Remember to explore the wide variety of fall plant and flower options.

Shrubs and succulents put on a show of flowers in the fall, especially if they're kept in flower pots or already well-established in the ground. Succulent planters allow for easier upkeep of sensitive succulents. Customize the soil in the planters to fit these desert plants, as they need a sandy succulent soil mixture.

For shrubs, look after the ones you've got or plant new ones, weather permitting. Get in new plants now, especially if you're in a warmer climate and have time before the cold and frost comes. If you use retaining wall blocks to surround or accent your garden, try giving a finished look with rubber mulch. It'll overwinter just fine and look new longer than bark chips or other mulches that fade with weathering.

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, 5-gallon buckets, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse or blanket, and they'll survive a frost.

This works well when the weather is still transitional, until you're fully into the colder parts of the season. Uncover the plants when it warms up again and let them enjoy that autumn sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, bid a fond farewell to the garden for now.

Put the Garden to Bed
When the sun angle changes and your annuals start looking rougher, it's time to dig up the plants. Northern climates may 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. You can let them return their nutrients to the earth, but there are two exceptions: if your plants dealt with disease or if you had a snail problem.

If your garden is prone to slugs, 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 possible. As for the exception of your plants struggling with blight or disease, simply pack up those dead plants in the yard waste bag to avoid passing any issues on to next year's crop.

After you've removed the old plants, you have a clean slate. Prepare your garden bed for the spring by rotating the soil with a shovel or renting a rototiller. You want to bring the deeper soil to the surface, send the topsoil lower down, and generally break up the ground. It lets the soil rest and helps nutrients penetrate. 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 add 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 house plants to bring joy into your home. Just make sure they get enough water now that they won't benefit from rainfall, and rotate them regularly to give all leaves equal sunlight for photosynthesis. 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 a Patio Heater
Stretch out your fall evenings with a fire pit, outdoor fireplace, or patio heater 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 an outdoor fireplace or fire pit, we have the supplies you need. We carry brick pavers, mortar, a wheelbarrow, trowels, and more. Let us help you get this fall project done. If you'd love some extra heat but would rather not install a gas fire pit or fireplace, we also have patio heaters, including gas, propane, and electric models.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, shore up your flowers and plants for the season with us. We have the supplies and tools you need for leaf cleanup, putting the garden to bed, and restoring nutrients to 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.