Garden Center at Humacao #6415

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 rakes, leaf blowers, and lawn bags. Also, remember to get a wheelbarrow and buckets 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.

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

If you're in a northern climate, prepare your cool-season grass for the fall with lawn fertilizer. Rent an aerator to aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer to get those nutrients down near the roots right off the bat. 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.

Plant Flower Bulbs
If you've got your eye on spring-blooming bulb plants, plant them soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, some bulb plants should be planted in spring instead. Find ideas for spring flowering bulbs and plan your daffodil, iris, and tulip displays now. Garlic and onions can also go in 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 like a teardrop shape, 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 when they mature. Snip off the dried flowers to avoid planting a patch 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 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 buckets, tarps, 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 in the morning when it warms up again and let them enjoy that autumn sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, say goodbye 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 that get cold earlier in the fall 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 vegetable plants have yielded a final harvest, dig them up, then chop 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.

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

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 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 need to restore 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. Remember to place decorative dishes beneath them if the pots don't have built-in overflow dishes 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 choose or build 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 Autumn
This fall, shore up your plants and flowers for the season with us. We have the tools and supplies 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 online, in your local store, or in our mobile app.