Shush … .don’t tell anyone yet , but the sun is just as high-pitched in the sky now and the daylight are just as long now as they were in late March . Oh , no ! Could devolve be here ? We seem to have a dumb get fall this year , but preferably or subsequently ( and probably rather ) it will be time for some fall horticulture .
Here are our suggestions for chores to do this fall :
Plant spring bulbs . Now is a great clock time to engraft for some spring color . tulip , daffodils , crocus , and the minor natural spring bulbs such as fritillaria , squill , snowfall cliff , and halo of the snow ( Chinodoxia ) can be plant now through mid - October . The minor bulb front jolly naturalized in lawns and most of them will be done blooming before you have to mow the grass .
Plant giant allium in fall for a great spring show.
alter out your container . I did this last week , and what a dispute it makes to replace those tired plants with some bright asters and a pretty decorative cabbage . Many summertime container look old-hat now — so alter them out by ripping out the spent or overgrown annuals and adding a momma , a couple of pumpkins or squash , even some branches to give them a evenfall facial expression . you could change them again with branches and more for a winter feeling .
Cut back perennials selectively . No good deal in the garden is as deplorable as a perennial bed beheaded in the nightfall . Some plants do n’t front full after the first freeze and should be cut back ( genus Funka and daylily , for example , and many annual ) but others sum up texture and form to the garden all wintertime . I employ the“cap theory”when deciding what to cut back . If a plant life would reckon good in a crownwork of snow , it can stay . So plant like large sedums , coneflowers , and Joe Pye weed remain standing until saltation . Also lead up sunflowers , sens and plant that might supply food for thought or shelter for bird .
get in summer bulbs . Tuberous begonias , dahlia and other summertime - blooming bulb can not survive a Minnesota wintertime outside . But you may keep them go by bringing them indoors after the first frost . While some bulb have specific requirements , generally they do best when their stems are write out back to 1 inch or so and they are hive away in a cool , but not immobilize place .
Swap out the plants and pumpkin for some holiday decor and you’ve got a container for all winter.
reverse and pull together compost . If you have a compost mint , give it a expert turning and gather any finished compost from the bottom . This can be circularize on both vegetable and flower gardens for a encouragement in land wellness .
Harvest vegetables . As crop meter ends , cut down veg industrial plant . I leave the roots of beans and any plants that are n’t diseased in the ground to meliorate the territory . Compost or toss the leaf and rotten veg .
strip up the garden . On a sunny fall Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , give the garden a good weeding . Spread compost or mulch , if you ’d like .
Amsonia, asters, annuals make for a pretty fall garden.
What are your must - do come down job ?
— Mary Lahr Schier
