Optimizing Garden Tasks in the Fall

Maritta Perry Grau
Frederick County Master Gardener

(9/1) Between beautiful photographs shared on social media to fond memories of growing up in backyard gardens and farms, the idea of being the owner of a charming garden has become increasingly popular. The thought of getting the day’s daily dose of exercise combined with daydreams of morning coffee or evening beverages surrounded by lush colors of foliage entices people of all skill levels to give gardening a try. And by all means, everyone should give it a good go at least once!

But when push comes to shove and spring finally arrives, the labor and planning involved with starting a garden can seem rather daunting, even to seasoned gardeners.

The way we address this particular obstacle can be found in the wisdom discovered by our farming ancestors who developed a lifestyle around maintaining their crops and gardens. With some year-round elbow grease, taking the time each season to look ahead and accomplish smaller tasks is one of the key components for a healthy garden and even happier gardener.

Cover crops

If you do not have any plans to grow fall and early winter crops like garlic and onions, growing a cover crop in your garden space is a clever option to consider. While stabilizing your soil from erosion and helping to add nutrients to the soil, cover crops such as alfalfa, field peas, barley, and crimson clover, to name a few, act as a natural mulch by choking out any space for weeds to grow as well as creating a cozy mulch to protect your soil from the harsh winter wind and frost. Plus, the cover crop can be chopped up and incorporated into compost to add additional nutrients to the soil.

Test your soil

Fall is an optimal time to test your soil to discover its consistency and ph levels. Whether you decide to do a soil test from your local home and garden store or get the detailed version from a special-ordered laboratory test, a soil test will let you understand the makeup of your growing soil and decide which amendments to add to help balance your soil and create an optimal growing space for your produce and flowers.

Clear fallen plants and produce

Take time during the fall to get rid of any summer plants or fallen fruit from your growing spaces. Clearing your growing spaces of non-perennial plants prevents unwanted pests or critters from being attracted to your garden and making themselves at home in your beds. Additionally, rotting produce and vegetation is an invitation for disease to invade your yard, potentially infecting next year’s crop after a dormant sleep in the warm winter soil or by invading your trees, bushes, and shrubs. So long as nothing has disease, you can easily compost the decaying plants and produce.

Add compost to the soil

If your garden bed(s) are already constructed and have the appropriate level of soil in them, adding compost is a great way to begin preparations for your spring garden. Over the winter, compost and fertilizers will give your soil a nutritional boost and be ready to help your produce and flowers maximize their growth and output when planted in the spring.

Keep weeding

If you don't want to be greeted with unwanted vegetation and waste precious time and physical labor cleaning out your garden beds when you could be planting, keep weeding your growing spaces through the fall and early winter months and beginning again in early spring. The fewer weeds that go to seed in your soil means the fewer weeds you will see in the spring. Take a few minutes each day to walk around your yard and pull the few weeds that you see. The long-term investment will save you frustration and time when spring planting finally comes.

Mulch

To help keep weeds down and maintain soil temperatures so that perennials and other overwintering plants stay dormant over the winter, applying a light layer of mulch does the trick. Use your yard clippings and leaves for a cost-efficient solution and additional compost that can continue to benefit your gardening space.

Collect seeds and transfer herbs

To help save money and your hard work, take the time to save the seeds from your dying flowers and move herbs indoors, if possible. Fall is the time when many summer flowers have gone to seed and are ready to decay and become the fertilizer to nurture their newly produced seeds into next year’s flowers. In a paper envelope or a small ziplock bag, collect your seed, label it with the name of the flower, and write the date of when you collected your seed. Then when early spring comes, you can save some money and begin your new flowers from seed. Likewise, most herbs will winter over if kept in warm temperatures. If possible, move the herbs indoors during the winter to continue to enjoy them. If moving herbs indoors isn’t an option, save the seed they produce using the same steps as described for flowers to get a head start on regrowing them come spring.

Clean, fix, mend

Are your raised bed frames looking worn or cracked? Do your stacked stones or pavers need to be readjusted, expanded, or scaled down? Maybe you don’t have your garden bed created yet and need to get the space started before winter comes and the ground gets hard? These are all great tasks to accomplish before the spring. Instead of waiting until planting time, prep, clean, fix, and mend your gardening spaces and tools during the fall months when you aren’t busy gardening. This will help prepare you for the upcoming growing season and ease the financial burden if any tools need to be repaired or replaced. Plus, cleaning gardening tools and containers helps to prevent harmful bacteria, mold, and mildew potentially picked up from the previous year’s crops from being transferred to the new crops in the spring. Taking time to clean up your tools and materials will also give you a chance to take inventory to see if you need to purchase any new materials for the upcoming planting season while taking stock of what you already have. You can also begin hunting down bargain and clearance sales as stores push out old summer stock to make room for holiday regalia.

Make notes and plan for the next season

Take the time during the fall and winter to research and plan for the upcoming growing season. Want to try out a new type of vegetable or flower? Having trouble growing a plant in a specific area? Take time to look at reputable seed and plant companies and ask questions with your local Master Gardener extension to find the right solutions for your gardening needs and interests. It may also be wise to invest in keeping a garden notebook—nothing fancy is necessary. A general spiral notebook or composition book does the job well. Using your gardening notebook, you can track what you planted, when you planted, the daily temperature, precipitation, garden layout, etc., before you invest your time, energy, and resources in the following growing season.

By taking a hint from our gardening forefathers and using fall as the stepping stone into the next growing season, we are able to pace ourselves and plan ahead efficiently to have an effective and successful growing season when spring comes around in the next year.

Gardening can seem incredibly intimidating, especially in the first attempts. Instead of allowing ourselves to be blind-sided year after year, let’s vow to work smarter and not harder. Preparing our garden spaces year-round allows us to continue to stay active and aware, while optimizing the extra time we gain by enjoying the fresh produce in our meals or savoring another cup of coffee among our gorgeous flower landscapes.

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