Planting a Fall Garden

With the kids back in school, and Labor Day behind us, it is time to start planning and planting a fall garden. In most North American gardens, the fall is an underused season for gardening, particularly in all the middle gardening zones. Everyone from zone 5 and above can take advantage of the cooler weather and more consistent moisture that the fall season offers. Planting a fall garden will take advantage of the season and let you enjoy your garden for a little while longer.

To take full advantage of the season, plant perennials as soon as the weather becomes cooler enough at night and fall rains start to become more frequent. Planting perennials this way will allow them to establish good root systems before shutting down for the winter. In the spring when we plant, the plants have to start growing rapidly upwards as well as establish good roots prior to summer sun and droughts. This can lead to unnecessary stress for the plants. So plant your perennials in a well-drained garden bed and mulch well. Use a little extra mulch for the first year so that the plant can become well established.

The fall is also a good time to grow some cool season vegetables. Short season lettuces and fast maturing kales are great crops that will do well in the cool weather. Some of them will even tolerate light frosts. Sow the seeds for these cool temperature plants inside. Many of them will germinate best at 60-70 degree temperatures rather than hot late summer days. Plant them outside as soon as they are big enough to handle. Fall is also the ideal time to sow garlic. If you do not have an order for garlic placed, go to the grocery aisle of your local market and pick up a head of organic garlic. Conventional garlic may work too, but much of it will have been treated so that it does not start growing too soon. Plant the individual cloves and in the spring they will come up and provide you with great home grown garlic.

If you choose to plant trees and shrubs, many of which are on sale at this end of the season, you must be willing to water them throughout the winter months. Even with snow on the ground, the root system may not be getting sufficient water.

So go ahead and make good use of the fall season, and plant a fall garden. It will extend your growing season a few weeks longer.