Fall Garden Prep That Saves Spring Time

Fall gardening is an excellent time for amending and preparing garden beds, allowing beneficial bacteria and microorganisms time to work their magic underground.

Now is also an ideal time to harvest frost sensitive bulbs such as dahlias, caladiums and canna lily that need cold temperatures in order to produce flower buds next spring.

Clean Your Garden Beds

Prepping your garden beds for fall can be one of the best ways to prepare for next year. Plus, it provides an opportunity to organize and clean out your shed as well as sharpen tools before the growing season commences.

Beginning by clearing away any dead plants and adding them to the compost pile. Next, clean up debris in your garden. If any perennials require splitting now is an opportune moment so they can concentrate their energies on producing roots instead of regrowing tall stems.

If your crops used up a great deal of nitrogen (like brassicas and leafy greens), sow a cover crop in your vegetable garden in fall to replenish its fertility. Clovers, fava beans, winter peas or grasses work great as cover crops as they add organic matter that helps with moisture management and drainage while simultaneously improving water-holding capacities in soils.

Clean out diseased and pest-ridden areas of the garden now to avoid problems next spring, taking extra caution not to disturb any butterfly cocoons or host plants that host butterflies and moths over winter; their eggs provide food sources for pollinators species.

Finally, it is a wise idea to double dig your garden beds during the fall season, if possible. Although this process is labor-intensive, double digging allows nutrients from deeper within the soil to come to the surface so they’re available for next year’s plants as well as loosening it further. A digging shovel or Garden Weasel claw tool are excellent choices for this job.

Remove Weeds

As temperatures decline and days become shorter, garden tasks become more specialized. You should remove and trim annuals that have faded or died and clear out planting beds and containers before cleaning tools for storage over winter. Sprayers filled with soil should also be dumped out, cleaned out thoroughly before being stored where they won’t freeze and crack in cold temperatures.

Now is an excellent time to remove any weeds that are about to go to seed or have become overgrown, as doing so now will save a great deal of work in springtime.

As you work, keep a trash bag handy to collect weed seeds and seed heads so they won’t spread throughout your garden next season and cause issues. Now is also an opportune time to empty out clay planting containers which have cracked from freezing/thawing cycles; rinse these out, store in your garage/shed until next summer when you can clean them again.

After cleaning, inspect your perennials closely and trim back any that appear overcrowded or haven’t flourished this season. Ideally, divide spring-through-fall blooming perennials (such as chives or dill) every one to three years in order to stimulate new growth and foster their development into healthy clumps.

If you haven’t already, take the opportunity to have your soil tested this fall – the quick and inexpensive test available through local cooperative extension offices will let you know exactly how much organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium the soil requires in order to perform at its optimal levels.

Add Organic Fertilizer

As plants mature and begin consuming nutrients from their surroundings, they deplete soil nutrients. By adding organic fertilizer in autumn to replenish this deficit, garden beds are prepared for next year’s planting and are fully ready for success!

When selecting an organic garden fertilizer, aim for one containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – this will cover most vegetables, flowers and grasses in your garden.

Conduct a soil test to identify your specific soil type and what nutrients it requires; for instance, clay soils require more phosphate than sandy ones do. When adding organic matter like compost or manure to the ground, make sure it has been well aged first before breaking it down and working it into the ground to add much-needed nutrients that make your soil easier to work with. This will not only add valuable nutrients to the ground but will also make your gardening efforts much simpler!

For vegetable gardens, fertilize close to the first frost date (if applicable). This allows new growth a chance to harden before being killed off by frost; in cold climates this could mean late September applications.

Mycorrhizal inoculant (0-0-0) is another organic garden soil amendment to consider adding. While this doesn’t actually contain any nutrients, mycorrhizal inoculant does introduce beneficial fungi into the soil that form beneficial relationships with plant roots to increase water absorption and absorption rates – perfect for tomato plants! You can mix this mycorrhizal solution into mulch piles so it spreads throughout your entire garden, too – also great for perennial flowering perennials like crocus, tulips daffodils & bearded iris!

Amend Soil

Amending the soil is one of the most critical steps you can take towards creating a flourishing garden. Amending will increase its structure and nutrient content, making it more suitable for planting. Compost or other organic matter should be added during fall so it has all winter and spring to break down and blend with the soil; doing this also feeds beneficial microorganisms while protecting it against erosion and compaction over winter.

If you’re unsure where to begin when amending your soil, conducting a basic soil test might be the way to go. Most New Hampshire and Maine county extension services offer low-cost tests which reveal pH, nutrient levels (such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and organic matter content of your soil – giving you valuable information that will allow you to target what your soil requires rather than overcorrecting it.

Amending soil requires adding organic matter such as food and yard waste, leafy greens, hay or straw, compost and manure from small animals like chickens and rabbits. Once added, work the materials into the top 6-8 inches of your garden bed so they will be ready for planting when springtime comes around.

Applying mulch is another effective way of amending your soil, conserving moisture, suppressing weeds and regulating soil temperature while adding organic matter and improving fertility.

Plant New Plants

Fall is an ideal time for planting perennials such as groundcovers, vines and shrubs as well as frost-sensitive flowers such as dahlias, caladiums, begonias, chrysanthemums and Asiatic lilies. A technique called layering works great both in containers and garden beds – particularly beneficial for perennials.

Vegetable plants can also be planted in the fall for spring production, with garlic being an ideal candidate as it thrives during cool conditions and matures quickly – perfect for storage later. For more information about choosing and planting garlic in your climate, check out my guide here.

At this time of year, it’s also an ideal opportunity to add compost to vegetable and annual flower beds. Simply spread 2-3 inches of compost over your beds before working it in. Be mindful that soil must remain moist but not wet when working it in order to do this effectively – be sure to check moisture content levels first before beginning!

As another way to add organic material in the fall, try raking and bagging leaves. Leave them lying around until spring to decompose naturally into nutrient-rich mulch for your garden – another way of keeping waste out of landfills while simultaneously enriching it further!