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Gardening Tips: Fall is for planting

Fall is the perfect time to get to gardening projects that have been hanging around on your 'to do' list since spring
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Susan Richards

After having such a dry summer, September has arrived with lots of rain. Thirsty lawns and gardens have soaked it up like a sponge. I finally have happy plants! I imagine yours have perked up too.

Fall is the perfect time to get to gardening projects that have been hanging around on your 'to do' list since spring. When you can take a moment, walk through the yard with your list and make plans for fall work. The weather is cooler now and the ground is moist enough to plant and transplant.

We are hosting our son's wedding at home next July, so that is the driving factor that has spurred on outdoor renovation projects. Our new walkways, patios and garden walls were completed by the end of July. I then made a big list of the garden renovations that are required to do all the gorgeous stone work justice.

It was too hot in August to move or divide perennials so I focused on weeding and cleaning up the most prominent areas. I kept watering, fertilizing and dead heading annuals in my containers to keep plants blooming right until frost arrives.

I did replace a few plants that had petered out. Before the weekend I will add some fall mums, ornamental grasses and peppers where fall colour in needed.

Over the Labour Day weekend I started reconstruction of a big perennial along the back of the house. It was too hot to divide plants but that garden is in shade most of the day so I did move quite a few perennials after doing a major cleanout.

Weeds weren't an issue there but Ostrich ferns had popped up through most of the bed and the ground cover False Lamium had gone a bit wild!

I moved ferns to the back of the bed where they belong; removed a lot of the groundcover; pulled out seedlings from a few plants that had volunteered too happily; and replanted most perennials that had to be taken out before construction began.

After a careful assessment, I headed to the garden centre to pick up a few more shade loving perennials to fill in the empty spots near the front of the garden where ferns were moved from.

In another few weeks, when plants look like they are shutting down for the season, I will tackle dividing and moving plants from an overgrown perennial bed in the sun.

That will be a major job as twitch grass has invaded this bed! I'll dig everything out, set the plants in the shade and cover their roots.  I'll use a digging fork to work deeply to remove all the twitch roots.

Once the bed is clean and compost has been added, I'll soak the root balls and wash soil off  perennials I plan to replant. This will allow me to see the twitch grass roots and remove them from the clumps before dividing and replanting.

I plan to add a Phantom Hydrangea standard tree as the new focal point for this bed. I'll do a quick sketch before planting to ensure the perennials I put back are in the right location to highlight the tree. I'll pass on extra plants to friends and neighbours. Nothing will go to waste!

The next project on the list is adding a pollinator's garden near my vegetable patch. I have removed the sod from that area and have all the plants that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like all picked out. I'm looking forward to this job!

Fall is the perfect time for planting. Cooler temperatures and moister soil ensures that planting and transplanting will be successful. Trees, shrubs and perennials will continue to produce new roots right up until the ground freezes.

Before you start a garden project, be sure to have all the supplies you need on hand. It is well worth the effort to amend soil with compost, add fresh soil to top up beds and work in bonemeal before planting.

You will be improving the composition of the soil and giving roots nutrients required for healthy growth.


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