Garden Center at Tulalip #4726

When a crisp day breezes in, hinting at the seasonal change, take advantage of it to do outdoor maintenance. Bushes and trees need a trim with a pole saw as they're slowing growth for the season. Leaf maintenance is likely a concern, so check out leaf blowers, yard waste bags, and rakes. Remember 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.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Patch 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 water, sun, and air to grow, and leaf litter can block out the sunlight and air 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 the most bang for your buck. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any pesky 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 Gardening
Fall planting is often overlooked, but autumn is the perfect time to get additional flowers in your garden. Chrysanthemums, often just called "mums," provide a beautiful burst of fall color. Find them in shades of pink, purple, white, yellow, orange, and red. You might also choose some marigolds for orange, yellow, and red flowers that last until the first frost, or longer if you shield them. Remember to explore the wide variety of fall plant and flower options.

Shrubs and succulents often flower in the fall, especially if they're kept in pots or already well-established in the ground. Succulent planters allow for easier 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, 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 frost and cold 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 freeze and frost damage to extend their season. You can get extra life out of your garden by covering your plants with 5-gallon buckets, tarps, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse or blanket, and they'll survive a frost. Read other fall-planted perennial tips, too.

This works well when the weather is still transitional, 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 sunshine. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, it's time to bid a fond farewell to the garden for the rest of the year.

Put the Garden to Bed
When your annuals start looking rougher, dig up the plants. Northern climates 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 detritus, or dead plant debris. You can let them return their nutrients to the earth, but there are two exceptions: if your plants dealt with disease or if you had a slug problem.

If your garden is prone to slugs, move the departed plants from the garden to another part of your lawn to decay, or put the plant remains in a yard waste bag. Although slugs and snails are often considered pests by gardeners, they're still part of the ecosystem, so relocate them elsewhere if you can. As for the exception of your plants struggling with blight or disease, simply pack up those dead plants in the lawn bag to avoid passing any issues on to next year's crop.

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 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 add certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Bring Potted Plants Indoors
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, and rotate them regularly to give all the leaves equal sunlight. 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 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 to heat a small patio, a cozy back porch, or a spacious deck, 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 fire pits 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 learn how to build an in-ground fire pit to fit your vision. Find the best fire pits for your backyard or stop by your closest garden center to see what's in stock.

Ease Into Fall
This fall, tidy up your flowers and plants with us. We've got everything you need for leaf cleanup, putting the garden to bed, and restoring nutrients to your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of fall garden care in your local store, online, or in our mobile app.