Following these 12 fall gardening activities will get your garden ready for spring and help plants survive our Nashville winters where temperatures can fluctuate tremendously in one day. Although it’s still hot and mostly dry as can be outside, it’s time to start preparing your Nashville landscape for a new season.
Below is a garden checklist for your garden in October-November.
- October is a perfect time to prepare a new perennial or vegetable bed. Getting the soil prepared now means that it will be settled and ready to plant later.
- Check garden centers for sale on perennials. Be sure they are not diseased or root bound (roots twirling around the container when you lift them up a little) and be sure to water them in well when planted and though October which is typically our driest month.
- Remove all annuals before the first frost. Otherwise, they turn to mush and it’s a mess to clean up.
- Repot if necessary and bring in any outdoor pots you want to save. They will require less water than in summer.
- If you’ve planted Agaves and want to keep them, pot them up and put in cool spot for winter. No light or water is required until spring.
- Deadhead asters and any other fall flowers that have finished blooming. Keep a few heads of coneflowers for the goldfinches and other birds to nibble on in the coming months as well as any other perennials you want for winter interest.
- No fertilization of perennials or ornamental grasses needed in the fall. Keep fertilizer in cool, dry space for the winter.
- Divide ‘Stella d’Oro’ and ‘Happy Returns’ daylilies if they stopped or slowed down blooming through the summer. They need dividing much more often than daylilies that bloom once a year.
- Order spring bulbs and plant later in October and into November when temperatures cool. You don’t want them starting to grow if it’s too warm outside! We’ve even planted them in December if the ground isn’t frozen.
- Lawns may be over-seeded before soil temperature reaches 58 degrees.
- Freeze or dehydrate herbs for cooking or crafting. Makes the house smell great!
- Compost leaves, grass or any annuals or perennials you’ve discarded. Be sure not to put any diseased plants in your compost pile.
If you follow these 12 fall garden activities you will have a better spring garden. Once you have your garden ready for the upcoming seasons, you will be able to relax knowing your Nashville Landscape is under control. Be sure and reward yourself with a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate and enjoy the cooler weather…finally!
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