Garden Center at West Sadsbury #8955

When a cool day breezes in, hinting at the seasonal change, take advantage of it to do outdoor maintenance. Bushes and trees need a trim with a chainsaw or pruner as they're slowing growth for the season. Fallen leaves are likely a concern, so check out leaf bags, rakes, and blowers. Be sure to get buckets and a wheelbarrow to contain a bountiful 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 dead, brown, or bare places in your yard. However, you should try to keep fallen leaves off 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 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 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.

Plant Flower Bulbs
If you've got your eye on springtime tulips and daffodils, plant them soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, certain bulb flowers, like freesias, should be planted in spring instead. Find ideas for spring flowering bulbs and plan your iris, tulip, and daffodil displays now. Onions and garlic can go in, too, for next spring's harvest, but they won't need soil additives.

Skip the soil amendments when planting onion or garlic bulbs instead of flower bulbs. Simply plant them now, pointy-side up, and you'll have a fresh harvest by next summer. These plants will spread though, so be careful not to let them flower, dry out, and go to seed after they mature. Snip off the dried flowers to avoid planting a field of volunteer garlic and onion plants.

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap and then warm 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, 5-gallon buckets, 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 early on, until you're fully into the colder parts of the season. Uncover the plants when the thermometer goes up again and let them enjoy that fall sunshine. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, say goodbye to the garden for now.

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 slug 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 lawn bag to avoid passing any issues on to next year's crop.

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 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 add 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 make sure they get enough water, and rotate them regularly to give all leaves equal sunlight for photosynthesis. 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 Fire Pit
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 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 your exact specifications. 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 garden 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 fall garden care in your local store, online, or in our mobile app.