Yard and garden: What to do in the fall

Fall is a good time to assess the gardening season, to clean the garden and to prepare plants for the coming winter. Although sometimes tedious, fall maintenance is essential to prepare plants before the cold of winter. Lack of care in the fall is one of the leading causes of mortality of plants.
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Lawn
Vegetable garden
Flower beds
Trees and shrubs

Lawn

Reseeding

Cool temperatures also provide good conditions to reseed sparse or damaged areas. Select seeds suited to the amount of light that your lawn receives (sun, semi-shade or shade). You can also select seeds with mycorrhizas or endophytes. Mycorrhizas help create a root system promoting the absorption of nutrients and to reduce water inputs. Endophytes also allow absorbing water and minerals but also allow repelling naturally some lawn pests such as chinch bugs and white grubs. It is the perfect time to aerate and topdress if you did not have the time to do it in spring.

Mowing

By setting your mower at an average height of 8 to 10 cm and by leaving grass clippings on the ground, you protect the lawn from temperature variations and enrich your soil with organic matters. A lawn of this length reduces seed germination of weeds by shading the soil. However, it is preferable to lower the height to 5 cm of the last mowing before winter to prevent the grass from lying on the ground. Thus, the development of diseases will not be promoted the next spring and will avoid creating a favourable place for mice.

Fertilization

Before fertilizing, it is strongly recommended to make a soil analysis every 2 to 3 years to know the needs of your soil. Correction of the pH and a proper fertilization program allows the lawn to be healthy and more resistant to pests. The lawn will benefit from a natural fertilizer with high potassium content in the fall. A fall formulation as 4-0-12 increases survival in winter and therefore a better recovery in the spring.

Consider placing snow stakes to define the lawn near the entrance to avoid damage from snow removal.

Vegetable garden

Harvesting

Harvest annual fine herbs for drying or freezing before the first frost affects them. Harvest the last vegetables and clean the garden by hoeing the soil to destroy weeds and some hibernating pests such as cutworms. Put debris in the compost. It is preferable to destroy diseased debris instead of composting. If you love garlic, fall is the best time to plant this small bulb in the garden.

Soil preparation

Fall is a good time to make a soil analysis to plan your fertilization and to adjust amendment inputs for the following season. Compost can also be added to provide organic matter for the next season.
    How to make a soil analysis:
  • You must wait at least 2 months to take a sample after inputs of fertilizers, amendments or any other materials which has an effect on the soil pH and fertility.
  • Avoid taking a sample if the soil is too wet or too dry.
  • It is recommended to take several samples of one area and to make one bag: for example, one bag for the lawn and one for the vegetable garden.


Assessing your vegetable garden

After harvesting, assess the performance of your garden and note problems encountered during the season (pests, weeds too vigorous, diseases, plants too crowded, crop too abundant for you needs, etc.) to provide the necessary corrections the next spring. Also, note the location of your vegetables so that you can do a crop rotation the following year to break the cycle of some diseases.

Compost

Regularly turn your compost (4 to 6 weeks) and maintain good moisture to ensure an effective decomposition of debris. Respect the balance between «green» debris (humid like vegetable cuttings) and «brown» debris (dry like dead leaves)

Flower beds

Plants have grown all season and perhaps too much. Fall is a good time to divide your tougher perennials and to fix up your flower beds and to integrate some spring bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops, etc. For tender bulbs (not as hardy such as tuberous begonias, cannas, dahlias, gladiolas), they will need to be pulled out after the first frosts, dried and excess soil removed. They can then be stored in cool, dry place and away from light.

Prevention for the following season

Continue weeding the flower beds in fall to remove weeds before they make seeds for the next year and to remove some perennial weeds. This will reduce the amount of work the next spring. Hoeing the soil around your plants will destroy hibernating insects such as slugs.

After the first frosts, you can prune leaves of diseased plants and destroy to reduce the risk of contamination the following year. However you can put frozen annuals in the compost bin. Avoid pruning healthy perennials in fall as the foliage provides snow coverage and protects the base from the cold.

Before bringing your indoor plants in the house, arrange for two treatments at one week interval with an insecticidal soap to prevent unwanted pests such as white flies, aphids or mites.

Trees and shrubs

In the fall trees undergo a series of transformations that allow them to better resist the winter. Some of our actions can promote hardening while some others can greatly reduce their ability to survive.

Pruning

Pruning trees and shrubs is not advised in the fall as it weakens new growths to frost. For diseased or dead branches, it is best to prune each of them to maintain plants healthy. During this period, you can also make the last planting of your containers. When fall is dry, provision of water is necessary to hydrate plants before the ground freezes.

Picking up leaves

Healthy leaves of your trees can be recuperated and put in the compost bin or left on the ground to be grinded by your mulching mower. Pick up and destroy diseased leaves and fruits to reduce infections the following spring.

Storing products

Some products can lose their effectiveness if they freeze or are improperly stored. After your last treatment, it is important to comply with the conditions of storage for your amendments and your eco-responsible products before winter comes.

Winter protection

When frosts are more frequent and before big snowfalls, you can install the winter protection on your more fragile plants. Plants with persistent foliage as well as less hardy shrubs are more sensitive to winter winds. Remember to protect your plants near the curb if de-icing salt is used on the street during winter.

  • Protect fragile plants from winds with a white geotextile.
  • Install trunk-protectors to young trees and foresee the depth of the snow to avoid damage from rodents.
  • Tie branches of your erected evergreens to prevent the weight of the snow to break them and remove excess snow in winter.
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