Garden Center at North Aurora #1551

Fall is a different time for your lawn and garden, so grab your work gloves, pole saws, chainsaws, and pruners. 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 landscaping and garden as the season comes to a close. We'll also help guide you through fall harvest and planting. Depending on your climate, you might be able to garden throughout the cooler months. Read on for more on fall lawn and garden maintenance.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Patch up 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, 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, help ensure it stays that way by applying lawn fertilizer if you have cool-season grass. Aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer to get the most value. An edger gives extra polish to the perimeter of your yard. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any pesky weeds that might appear. It'll require different upkeep than warm-season grass, which goes dormant as cooler weather arrives. Taper down watering on warm-season lawns.

Fall Planting
Autumn planting is often overlooked, but fall is the perfect time to get extra flowers in your garden. Chrysanthemums, often just referred to as "mums," provide a pretty pop of fall color. Find them in shades of red, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and white. You might also choose some marigolds for yellow, red, and orange blooms that last until the first frost, or possibly even longer if you properly protect them. Remember to explore the wide variety of fall plant and flower options.

Shrubs and succulents also blossom in the fall, especially if they've been established in the ground or kept in flower pots. Succulent planters allow for simpler upkeep of sensitive succulents. You can customize the soil in the planters to fit these desert plants, as they need a sandy succulent soil mixture.

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

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap here and there, but then it warms 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, painting drop cloths, or even 5-gallon buckets. It'll warm your plants like a blanket or greenhouse, 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 in the morning when the thermometer goes up again and let them enjoy that fall sunshine. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to 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 produced a final harvest, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the detritus, or dead plant debris. You can allow them to return their nutrients to the earth, but there are two exceptions: if your plants had disease or if you had a problem with snails.

If your garden is prone to snail troubles, you'll want to let the old plant matter decay somewhere else. Snails and slugs love to scarf down decaying plants. Moving those plants to another location will help prevent your garden from being taken over by these pests in the spring. Although slugs and snails are often considered pests by gardeners, they're still part of the ecosystem, so move them elsewhere on your property if possible. As for the exception of your plants struggling with disease or blight, just pack up those dead plants in the leaf and lawn bag to avoid passing any issues on to next year's crop.

After you've removed your 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. Bring the deeper soil to the surface, send the topsoil lower down, and generally break up the ground. It lets your 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 add certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Bring Delicate Plants Indoors
Gardeners with potted plants can extend their growing season by bringing the plants indoors to a sunny spot. Indoor gardening allows both outdoor plants to live longer and house plants to bring happiness 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 for photosynthesis. Don't forget 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 Fire Pit
Stretch out your fall evenings with a fire pit, patio heater, or outdoor fireplace to take off the chill. Whether you're looking to heat a spacious deck, a small patio, or a cozy back porch, we've got options. All you have to do is find the one that matches your style.

We've got fire pit tables and fire bowls ready to warm your outdoor space. Check out stylish propane and natural gas fire pits in a variety of shapes. We've also got wood-burning 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, shore up your lawn and garden for the season with us. We have everything you need for putting the garden to bed, restoring nutrients to your soil, and leaf cleanup so it's ready for the spring ahead. Shop our wide variety of outdoor living and fall garden care products online, in your local store, or in our mobile app.