Garden Center at Henrietta #1246

When a cool day breezes in, take advantage of it to do outdoor maintenance. Trees and bushes need a trim with a chainsaw or pole saw as they're slowing growth for the season. Leaf maintenance is likely a concern, so check out rakes, leaf blowers, and lawn bags. Also, remember to get buckets and a wheelbarrow to gather your 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.

Fertilize or Patch Your Lawn
Patch bald spots on your lawn by learning how to seed a lawn in the fall. Cooler weather is a great time to fill in brown or bare places in your yard. However, you should try to keep leaves off freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs water, sun, 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. Rent an aerator to aerate your lawn before fertilizing to get the most bang for your buck. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any 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.

Fall Gardening
Many colorful fall flowers are annuals, like marigolds, so they last until the end of the year. Hardier plants, like pansies and chrysanthemums, should return in the spring. Always check the plant tag for info. If you want your mums to grow back next year, the label should call them chrysanthemum morifolium, hardy mums, or garden mums. If it says they're an annual or florist mum, you'll have flowers this year only.

Shrubs and succulents often flower in the fall, especially if they're already established in the ground or kept in flower pots. 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.

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap here and there, but then it'll warm up above freezing again, 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 tarps, 5-gallon 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 autumn sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to say goodbye to the garden for now.

Put the Garden to Bed
When your annuals start looking rougher, 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 vegetable plants have given a final harvest, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the detritus, or dead plant debris. Feel free to let them decompose to enrich the soil unless you had one of two exceptions: if your plants dealt with blight or if you had a slug problem.

For gardens overrun with slugs and snails or if your plants struggled with blight, put the expired plants in a leaf bag for disposal. You don't want to bring the disease or snails to next year's garden. However, if you have a compost heap in the corner of the yard, feel free to add the snail-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 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 should replenish certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Bring Potted Plants Indoors
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 turn them regularly to give all leaves equal sunlight for photosynthesis, and make sure they get enough water. 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 a Fire Pit
Stretch out your fall evenings with a fire pit, patio heater, or outdoor fireplace to take off the chill. No matter if you're looking to heat a small patio, a cozy back porch, or a spacious deck, we've got options. All you have to do is discover 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 from doing to 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 Autumn
This fall, prepare your garden and lawn for the coming winter with us. We have the supplies and tools you need for putting the garden to bed, leaf cleanup, and replenishing nutrients in your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of fall garden care and outdoor living products in your local store, online, or in our mobile app.