Garden Center at Steele Creek #3662

On a fresh fall day, take advantage of the weather to 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, pole saws, and pruners. Read on for more on fall gardening and how to transition to your fall lawn and garden.

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, make sure leaves don't land on freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs air, water, and sun 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. Aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer 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 pesky fall 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.

Get Bulb Plants in the Ground
If you've got your eye on springtime tulips and daffodils, get those planted soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, certain bulb flowers should be planted in spring instead. Plan your iris, tulip, and daffodil displays now. Garlic and onions can also go in for a harvest next spring or summer, but they won't need soil additives.

Try using retaining wall blocks to surround or accent your garden. A beautiful garden wall or hardscaping gives a finished look, especially when you spread a layer of rubber mulch. It'll overwinter well and resist fading longer than other mulches.

Encourage the bulb roots to grow deep by sprinkling bone meal in the surrounding soil before you plant the flowers. Only apply the recommended amount and follow the instructions on the package. If you don't, you may end up with a tulip plant with one gigantic leaf and no flowers, for example.

There are cases where you can use something else and skip the bone meal. If you've already got very healthy soil that's full of compost and rich nutrients, just plant the flower bulbs. Superphosphate is an option if you've got rodents living nearby or if your dog is prone to digging up bones, as all these creatures may like the smell of bone meal.

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 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 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 fall sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to say goodbye to the garden for the winter.

Put the Garden to Bed
When your annuals start looking rougher, 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. After your annuals are done blooming for the year, dig them up 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.

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 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 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 house plants to bring joy into your home. Just rotate them regularly to give all leaves equal sunlight for photosynthesis, and make sure they get enough water now that they won't benefit from rainfall. 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, patio heater, or outdoor fireplace 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 fit your vision with pavers that lead to and surround the pit. Stop by your closest garden center to see what's in stock.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, shore up your garden and lawn for the season with us. We've got everything 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 outdoor living products and fall garden care online, in your local store, or in our mobile app.