Frost is on the pumpkin but the gardening season isn’t over yet. Here are some gardening tips from The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture for fall garden maintenance:
Shrubs and trees
- It’s an ideal time to plant or transplant trees, shrubs and fruit crops. Be sure to mulch newly planted plants with a good 3-4″ layer of mulch, but keep it directly off the bark.
- Check newly planted evergreen plants regularly during the winter to ensure they are getting enough water.
- Mulch existing trees and shrubs to help reduce weeds, provide insulation from freezing temperatures, and conserve moisture.
- Protect roses for winter. Roses should have all their leaves raked from beneath to prevent black spot. Dispose of plant materials in the trash not the compost pile, to reduce the carryover of disease during the winter.
Perennials, annuals, and bulbs
- Cut perennials to 4-5″ from the soil once they have begun to die back, but leave ornamental grasses to provide winter interest until spring.
- You can continue to transplant perennials throughout the fall and winter, as long as they remain dormant.
- Winter annuals, such as pansies, violas, Dianthus chinensis, red mustard, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale can still be planted. The earlier in the month, the better.
- It’s the ideal time to plant spring flowering bulbs.
- Mulch flower beds with 3-4″ of good compost or fine mulch to keep soil temperature stable and prevent winter plant injury from frost heaving. As the compost or fine mulch decomposes, it will enrich your garden soil as well.
Fruits and veggies
- As soon as the leaves fall from fruit trees, shade or flowering trees, raspberries and other deciduous plants, they can be sprayed for the first time with a dormant spray. This spraying helps control over-wintering insects and diseases. Apply according to label instructions.
- Incorporate compost in the annual and vegetable gardens for next growing season.
- Complete removal of fallen leaves and debris to protect from overwintering of insects and disease organisms
- There are some cover crops that can still be seeded in November, so don’t assume that a late fall crop prevents you from seeding. extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W235-G.pdf
- Cover strawberries two inches deep with hay or straw to reduce weeds and increase winter protection.
- Secure your raspberry canes to stakes to protect them from wind whipping.
Indoor plants
- Give houseplants as much light as possible as lower light days begin.
- Stop fertilizing indoor plants until spring.
- If possible, provide houseplants with increased humidity as levels decrease due to indoor heating.
- Begin to increase the time between waterings, but do not cut back on the amount of water.
Odds and ends
- Force Bulbs indoors like Narcissus, Hyacinths and Amaryllis for color early in new year; start paperwhites in late November for Christmas flowering.
- Fall is a great time to set up a compost pile with the (disease-free) debris from your garden along with leaf and lawn clippings. www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ho/ho75/ho75.pdf
- Keep feeding the birds.