Garden Center at West Port St Lucie #6376

When a crisp day breezes in, hinting at the seasonal change, take advantage of it to do outdoor maintenance. Trees and bushes need a trim with chainsaws and pole saws. Fallen leaves are likely a concern, so check out leaf bags, rakes, and blowers. Remember a wheelbarrow and buckets to gather your fall harvest. You may even be able to garden throughout fall and into winter, if you'd like. 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 spreading fresh grass seed. Autumn is a great time to fill in dead or brown places in your yard. However, you should try to keep leaves off 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 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 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.

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 pink, purple, white, yellow, orange, and red. Surprisingly, pansies can overwinter as far north as parts of The Great Plains, so consider adding them. They're quite hardy, but mums are even tougher. Remember to explore the wide variety of fall plant and flower options.

Shrubs and succulents 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. 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 cold and frost comes. If you use retaining wall blocks to accent or surround 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 here and there, but then it'll 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 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 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 winter.

Put the Garden to Bed
When the sun angle changes and your annuals start looking rougher, dig up the plants. Northern climates may 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 given a final harvest, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the detritus, or dead plant debris. Feel free to let them decompose to enrich the soil unless you had one of two exceptions: if your plants dealt with blight or if you had a snail problem.

If your garden is prone to snails, you'll want to let the old plant matter decay elsewhere. Snails and slugs dine on decaying plants. Moving those plants to another location will help prevent your garden from being overrun by these creatures in the spring. Although snails and slugs 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 disease or blight, simply pack up those dead plants in the leaf 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 should restore 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 house plants to bring joy into your home. Just rotate them regularly to give all leaves equal sunlight, 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 Fire Pit
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 discover the one that matches your decor style.

When you're curious about how to build an outdoor fire pit or fireplace, we have the supplies you need. We carry brick pavers, mortar, a wheelbarrow, trowels, and more. Let us help you get this fall project from doing to done. If you'd love some extra heat but would rather not install a gas fire pit or fireplace, we also have patio heaters, including gas, propane, and electric models.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, prepare your garden and lawn for the change of season with us. We've got everything you need for putting the garden to bed, leaf cleanup, and restoring nutrients to your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of outdoor living products and fall garden care in your local store, online, or in our mobile app.