Garden Center at N Melbourne #6381

Fall is a different time for your garden and lawn, so get out your work gloves, pole saws, pruners, and chainsaws. The focus shifts from growing to harvesting, from upkeep to cleanup. We've got fall lawn tips to help you make the most of your garden and landscaping as the season ends. We'll also guide you through harvest and planting. Depending on your climate, you might be able to garden throughout the chillier months. Read on for more on fall garden and lawn maintenance.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Fix bald spots on your lawn by overseeding them. Cooler weather is a great time to fill in dead, brown, or bare places in your yard. However, be mindful of fallen leaves on freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs sun, air, and water to grow, and leaf litter can block out the air and sunlight 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 quickly. An edger gives extra polish to the perimeter of your yard. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any pesky fall 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 Planting
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 white, pink, purple, orange, red, and yellow. Pansies and marigolds are other options for beautiful fall flowers, so consider them, too. Remember to explore the wide variety of fall plant and flower options.

Succulents and shrubs put on a show of flowers 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. You can customize the soil 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 sets in. If you use retaining wall blocks to surround or accent your garden, try giving a finished look with rubber mulch. It'll overwinter well and resist fading longer than other mulches.

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 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 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, 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 that get cold earlier in the fall may be putting the garden to bed for the season in October or November. After your vegetables and annuals are done 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 disease or if you had a snail problem.

For gardens overrun with slugs and snails or if your plants struggled with blight, put the deceased plants in a leaf bag for disposal. You don't want to bring the disease or slugs 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 rototiller or shovel. You want to send the topsoil down, bring up the deeper soil, and loosen the earth. 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 replenish 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 rotate them regularly to give all those leaves equal sunlight. 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 an Outdoor Fireplace
Stretch out your fall evenings with an outdoor fireplace, patio heater, or fire pit 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.

We've got fire bowls and fire pit tables ready to warm your outdoor space. Check out stylish propane 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 build an in-ground fire pit to your exact specifications with pavers that lead to and surround the pit. Stop by your closest garden center to see what's in stock.

Ease Into Fall
This fall, tidy up your lawn and garden 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.