Its Fall and its Planting Time!

Fall has long been touted as the best time to plant especially if you plan to use native plants. This is especially notable during the current drought emergency. The primary reason behind this notion is that new plants will need much less supplemental (irrigation) water to become established as they go through into winter and will be well rooted by the time the irrigation system is turned back on in March/April. Fall and winter rains will provide much or all of the watering and soil temperatures are still high enough to allow for root development and growth. Winter planting is also acceptable but we find that plant mortality goes up and selection at the nursery goes down. Gardenworks has a plant material guarantee to get through winter and general establishment time for all of our new plantings. Good plant bargains can also be found in the fall as nurseries want to move inventory before the winter doldrums set in. You will also find that mulching in the fall can be beneficial to act as a blanket over the soil during cold days as well as slowing evaporation during the warmer days of autumn and early spring. For the “do it yourselfers” in town as well as our Gardenworks crews, the typically cooler days make it more enjoyable to be digging and working around the garden. Weeds are easier to remove when the soil is damp from (typically) early rains. It is also a very good time to sow wildflower seeds and divide perennials to move around the garden or share with family and friends. If you enjoy fall gardening, but don’t want to do the “heavy lifting”, the Gardenworks Team can help with garden clean up and any digging, renovating, hardscaping, irrigation upgrading or other chore you may need but not prefer to do. Please contact us!