SHOULD I STILL WATER MY PLANTS IN THE FALL?
If your yard receives less than 1″ of rainfall every ten days, you need to water your plants. Fall and winter provide good soil moisture for your larger trees, shrubs, perennials, and lawn. Proper moisture in the soil is an essential part of how well your plants will thrive in the winter and next spring. It means watering until the ground freezes.
HOW LATE CAN YOU PLANT IN THE FALL?
As long as the soil is workable and the weather is good, you can plant throughout the year. Fall is an excellent time for planting most trees, shrubs, evergreens, perennials, roses, lawns, etc.
WHEN TO PRUNE YOUR PLANTS
Do last-minute hand trimming of evergreens, tree limbs, etc. In late fall, you can prune plants that have overgrown their location. However, save the most severe pruning for late winter/spring. Pruning spring-flowering trees and shrubs in the fall will reduce or eliminate spring flowers, so prune after flowering to preserve spring flowers.
CHECK YOUR SOIL
Fall and early spring are great times to have your soil tested and make any adjustments.
START A COMPOST PILE
It doesn’t take much space. Today’s yard debris can become tomorrow’s garden gold as a soil amendment. Grass clippings, finely ground leaves, small sticks, vegetable trimmings from the kitchen, spent flowers and foliage, etc, can all be added to the compost pile.