Written by Barbara Gee
The word Autumn evokes a sense of slow, undulating pleasure as the season unfolds its beauty. Fall on the other hand seems to conjure images of swift, abrupt movement and does not do the season justice. Both terms are used in the U.S. but for me it will always be Autumn – a season of vibrant color with the garden in its full flush of growth. And the light at this time of year is exquisite, particularly in Rhode Island for some reason. Autumn is a season that you must enjoy for all its worth because it is all too soon gone and with it the color and growth. A signal to slow down in the garden as you head into a winter of hibernation, relaxation and regeneration – or skiing!
But you can’t simply walk away from your garden. Yes, you can do that but you’ll probably regret it in the spring. Autumn is a gorgeous time to work out in the garden – it’s not too hot, the birds are creating a racket and you’re outside – what could be better.
Cutting back and cleaning up
You can have a lovely lazy time in the garden, enjoying the seed heads and changing forms only to be faced with a mind-blowing amount of clean-up in the spring. Or you can scalp your garden to the ground, feverishly denuding it to ensure a “clean palette” in the spring. A lot depends on what you want to look at, and think about through the winter. There are, of course, issues of hygiene versus animal habitats. If you clean up too much you may exile some poor mouse family out of your garden, or deny the birds their nest-making materials for the spring. But, if your garden is too much of a mess you may also be encouraging unhealthy fungi and parasites. Somewhere in between spartan and cluttered probably works best.
Cut back those plants that are truly ugly when they have passed and leave the ones that still have some form and structure. This adds to the texture of the garden in the winter, particularly when snow settles. Take care when putting the cut back debris on the compost pile – too any seed heads will add seeds to the pile and they may be plants you don’t want popping up everywhere the following year when you spread the compost.
Pruning
An arborist I know said that the best time to prune is after your Christmas lunch. Another said to prune “whenever you have the time.” Two very different ways of looking at the timing of pruning. So – whether to prune in the autumn, or not, seems to depend a lot on your schedule. This philosophy, of course, totally ignores the necessity for pruning to ensure spring blooms. You don’t want to prune your lilacs, viburnums or forsythias in the autumn because you will then have just cut off all of the next spring season’s waiting blooms that have already set. But, if that’s the only time you have to do it you’ll just have to live one season without blooms – it won’t kill the plant. Any good pruning book will specify when you should prune a specific plant, but you need also to temper this information with the growth of that particular plant and the growing area in which you live. Go by the plant’s growth not the book’s text.
Transplanting
Transplanting in the autumn, early enough in the autumn, gives plants a leg-up on establishing themselves before the winter sets in. Autumn is the time when most plants are in die-back mode so it is a wonderful time to transplant because the focus is on what’s underground and not what’s above – roots not blooms. You don’t care if the foliage collapses on you because that’s what happening to the plant anyway. And, pretty soon you’ll cut it back. What you care about is making sure the roots take hold, and that the plant is well-watered in, minimally fertilized, and happily mulched for the winter. If you don’t have time to transplant in the autumn just make sure you do it early enough in the spring that you don’t affect the plant’s growth patterns.
Fertilizing
Fertilizing is usually thought to be a spring task because you want to encourage growth at that time. Fertilizing in the autumn can be a little tricky because it is growth that you don’t really want to encourage. However, if done with care autumn fertilizing is a wonderful way of amending the soil and helping continued healthy winter growth of roots. What fertilizer you use matters rather more than whether or not to fertilize.
Nitrogen is more important for stem and leaf development whereas Phosphorous is for root enlargement and expansion so less of the former and more of the latter. Autumn is also a great time to test your soil to see if it needs improvement. Take a sample and send it to your local extension office. If the results show that your soil needs improvement autumn is the time to do it because you don’t have to be quite so careful when working the soil. You’re not working around new growth so you can turn the soil and work in the amendments with less worry about damaging something.
The Lawn
Autumn is a good time to aerate the lawn. This involves running a machine over the entire lawn that removes plugs of soil. The plugs when left on the lawn decompose and filter nutrients back down into the soil. The open holes allow moisture, air and nutrients to find their way more deeply into the soil.
Tools
Cleaning your tools before putting them away for the season is an excellent way of emotionally finishing up. I like to clean my smaller tools during the winter when I’m inside anyway. I spread a tarp out in front of the fire and bring in my tool carrier. I clean, sharpen and oil them. At the same time I empty my carrier of all accumulated junk. When I put everything back into the garage I know they’re ready to go the moment I see an opportunity to head out into the garden in the spring. Clean tools last longer too!
Recommended Reading:
The Complete Gardener’s Almanac: A Month by Month Guide to Successful Gardening by Marjorie Willison
People, Places & Plants: the Magazine for Northeast gardeners – always has a calendar of tasks in each issue.
Barbara is a business and creative writer who has published two books and many articles in local and national magazines. She is a URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and likes to write about anything green.
The word Autumn evokes a sense of slow, undulating pleasure as the season unfolds its beauty. Fall on the other hand seems to conjure images of swift, abrupt movement and does not do the season justice. Both terms are used in the U.S. but for me it will always be Autumn – a season of vibrant color with the garden in its full flush of growth. And the light at this time of year is exquisite, particularly in Rhode Island for some reason. Autumn is a season that you must enjoy for all its worth because it is all too soon gone and with it the color and growth. A signal to slow down in the garden as you head into a winter of hibernation, relaxation and regeneration – or skiing!
But you can’t simply walk away from your garden. Yes, you can do that but you’ll probably regret it in the spring. Autumn is a gorgeous time to work out in the garden – it’s not too hot, the birds are creating a racket and you’re outside – what could be better.
Cutting back and cleaning up
You can have a lovely lazy time in the garden, enjoying the seed heads and changing forms only to be faced with a mind-blowing amount of clean-up in the spring. Or you can scalp your garden to the ground, feverishly denuding it to ensure a “clean palette” in the spring. A lot depends on what you want to look at, and think about through the winter. There are, of course, issues of hygiene versus animal habitats. If you clean up too much you may exile some poor mouse family out of your garden, or deny the birds their nest-making materials for the spring. But, if your garden is too much of a mess you may also be encouraging unhealthy fungi and parasites. Somewhere in between spartan and cluttered probably works best.
Cut back those plants that are truly ugly when they have passed and leave the ones that still have some form and structure. This adds to the texture of the garden in the winter, particularly when snow settles. Take care when putting the cut back debris on the compost pile – too any seed heads will add seeds to the pile and they may be plants you don’t want popping up everywhere the following year when you spread the compost.
Pruning
An arborist I know said that the best time to prune is after your Christmas lunch. Another said to prune “whenever you have the time.” Two very different ways of looking at the timing of pruning. So – whether to prune in the autumn, or not, seems to depend a lot on your schedule. This philosophy, of course, totally ignores the necessity for pruning to ensure spring blooms. You don’t want to prune your lilacs, viburnums or forsythias in the autumn because you will then have just cut off all of the next spring season’s waiting blooms that have already set. But, if that’s the only time you have to do it you’ll just have to live one season without blooms – it won’t kill the plant. Any good pruning book will specify when you should prune a specific plant, but you need also to temper this information with the growth of that particular plant and the growing area in which you live. Go by the plant’s growth not the book’s text.
Transplanting
Transplanting in the autumn, early enough in the autumn, gives plants a leg-up on establishing themselves before the winter sets in. Autumn is the time when most plants are in die-back mode so it is a wonderful time to transplant because the focus is on what’s underground and not what’s above – roots not blooms. You don’t care if the foliage collapses on you because that’s what happening to the plant anyway. And, pretty soon you’ll cut it back. What you care about is making sure the roots take hold, and that the plant is well-watered in, minimally fertilized, and happily mulched for the winter. If you don’t have time to transplant in the autumn just make sure you do it early enough in the spring that you don’t affect the plant’s growth patterns.
Fertilizing
Fertilizing is usually thought to be a spring task because you want to encourage growth at that time. Fertilizing in the autumn can be a little tricky because it is growth that you don’t really want to encourage. However, if done with care autumn fertilizing is a wonderful way of amending the soil and helping continued healthy winter growth of roots. What fertilizer you use matters rather more than whether or not to fertilize.
Nitrogen is more important for stem and leaf development whereas Phosphorous is for root enlargement and expansion so less of the former and more of the latter. Autumn is also a great time to test your soil to see if it needs improvement. Take a sample and send it to your local extension office. If the results show that your soil needs improvement autumn is the time to do it because you don’t have to be quite so careful when working the soil. You’re not working around new growth so you can turn the soil and work in the amendments with less worry about damaging something.
The Lawn
Autumn is a good time to aerate the lawn. This involves running a machine over the entire lawn that removes plugs of soil. The plugs when left on the lawn decompose and filter nutrients back down into the soil. The open holes allow moisture, air and nutrients to find their way more deeply into the soil.
Tools
Cleaning your tools before putting them away for the season is an excellent way of emotionally finishing up. I like to clean my smaller tools during the winter when I’m inside anyway. I spread a tarp out in front of the fire and bring in my tool carrier. I clean, sharpen and oil them. At the same time I empty my carrier of all accumulated junk. When I put everything back into the garage I know they’re ready to go the moment I see an opportunity to head out into the garden in the spring. Clean tools last longer too!
Recommended Reading:
The Complete Gardener’s Almanac: A Month by Month Guide to Successful Gardening by Marjorie Willison
People, Places & Plants: the Magazine for Northeast gardeners – always has a calendar of tasks in each issue.
Barbara is a business and creative writer who has published two books and many articles in local and national magazines. She is a URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and likes to write about anything green.