Getting Your Garden Fall Ready

August 30, 2024
Published by Classic Homes

As summer fades and autumn approaches, it’s time to prepare your garden for the upcoming season.

The growing season is winding down as the first frost here in our Zone 7 is October 30th so it’s important to prepare your garden for the colder months ahead.  

Here are some fall gardening tips that can help you maintain your unique landscape and set the stage for a healthy and vibrant garden come spring. 

Luckily, for us in Northern Virginia, the temperatures don’t dip too far down in the winter unlike our friends in states above the Mason-Dixon line. Sure, we have a few days where we curse ourselves for not buying that condo in Fort Myers, but overall, we’re pretty lucky with our milder winters. 

Here are some fall gardening tips that can help you maintain your unique landscape and set the stage for a healthy and vibrant garden come spring. 

Luckily, for us in Northern Virginia, the temperatures don’t dip too far down in the winter unlike our friends in states above the Mason-Dixon line. Sure, we have a few days where we curse ourselves for not buying that condo in Fort Myers, but overall, we’re pretty lucky with our milder winters. 

As autumn arrives and the scent of pumpkin spice and apple pies fills the air, it’s time to wrap up the gardening season by preparing your plants for winter. Key fall tasks should include giving your permanent plantings—like trees, shrubs, and perennials—a bit of extra care, tidying up your vegetable or flower garden, winterizing your lawn, and emptying out containers for spring and summer annuals. Putting in some effort now means you’ll have more time in the spring to focus on planting vegetables and vibrant blooms, instead of being bogged down with clean-up and hunting for old, broken, or misplaced garden tools. 

Follow these fall gardening tips and checklist to knock out a few tasks each day, and you’ll be ready for winter in no time. Then, you can relax and enjoy browsing seed catalogs and spring bulbs on the internet as you dream up your garden plans for next year. 

1.  Winterize your lawn 

As the weather cools, autumn lawn care focuses on both cleanup and encouraging new growth in the spring. It’s also the perfect time to help your grass recover from the wear and tear of summer activities like outdoor movie nights, soccer games, and capture-the-flag. Look forward to a healthy green lawn next spring with these fall gardening tips: 

• Raise Your Mower Blade Keeping your lawn taller encourages deeper root growth, helping your grass survive the winter more effectively. Cutting your grass too low at the end of the season exposes the roots to harsh conditions. 

• Aerate Your Lawn Aerate high-traffic areas annually to loosen compacted soil; for other areas, aerating every other year is sufficient. You can hire a company to come do it, or you can do it yourself and get some exercise with a manual aerator if your lawn isn’t too big. 

• Seed or Lay Sod. Cooler temperatures and late fall rain create ideal conditions for establishing new lawns or making repairs. 

• Manage Fallen Leaves. Thick layers of leaves can suffocate your turf, so it’s best to rake off what you can. The most sustainable method is to skip raking and mow over the leaves to chop them into small pieces that will enrich the soil. You can even use this in garden beds as mulch. 

• Weed, Weed, Weed! As temperatures drop, many common lawn weeds begin to proliferate, so be vigilant and get on them quickly. 

2. Tend Your Perennial Garden 

Perennials are the hardest workers in your garden, producing the beautiful foliage and colorful flowers to fill in your spring and summer garden beds. After a long growing season here in Northern Virginia, they’re ready for a well-deserved rest. Stop deadheading and cutting back in early fall and let the above-ground parts remain standing, even after frost has taken its toll—unless pests or diseases are a concern. This will provide food and shelter for wildlife such as insects and small mammals. The songbirds enjoying the seedheads and many pollinators, like native bees, overwintering in the long stems and brush. 

• Weed, Weed, Weed! Sound familiar? Clear out as many weeds as possible now to reduce the amount you’ll have to manage in the spring. 

• Add Mulch. Once the ground freezes, apply a 4- to 5-inch layer of mulch over the crowns of newly planted perennials and those that are frost-sensitive in your region. This can be the typical shredded bark mulch, pine needles, or even chopped up leaves. 

• Plant Spring Bulbs. Daffodils, irises, and other spring-blooming bulbs should be planted in late November for the best results. The ground should be cold, but not frozen, so you can still plant in December in many areas. 

• Dispose of Plants with Pests and Disease. With out heat and humidity, spider mites, aphids, and Japanese beetles can run rampant in our gardens over the summer. Remove any leaves, stems, or plants affected by diseases or pests to prevent issues next year. This really should be done all year round to keep things manageable, of course, but especially in the fall so that your spring garden can flourish with minimal damage. 

• Keep Up With the Watering. Although perennials observe a period of dormancy, their roots continue to grow until the ground freezes, so ensure they stay well-hydrated with weekly watering if conditions are dry. This isn’t typically a problem in Northern Virginia where rainfall in autumn is usually plentiful, however, it’s best to keep a pulse on the amount of rain you are getting where you live. 

3. Refresh Your Raised Garden Beds for Next Year 

Whether you have a prolific kitchen garden or a small courtyard-style space for growing herbs, you still have some time to finish harvesting the last of your fall crops. After a few frosts, the plants will die.  Get ahead of these small garden tasks to be in good shape for spring planting. The time will come before we know it! 

• Clean Out Raised Beds. Remove all plant debris to prevent pests and diseases from overwintering in your garden and becoming bigger problems in the spring. Rake in compost and consider growing a cover crop to nourish the soil and minimize weed seeds from germinating in the winter (see below). 

• De-Accessorize Your Garden. As you clear out plants, don’t forget to gather items like plant labels, garden stakes, and tomato cages. Clean them and store them where they’ll be easy to find and reuse next year. Now is a good time to take advantage of end-of-season sales to replace any supplies you may need next year. There’s usually a lot of fun décor pieces on sale now, too! 

• Add Compost. Spread and rake a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost over your raised beds to enrich the soil. There’s no need to till it in—precipitation and soil organisms will take care of that. 

• Plant Cover Crops. Sow cover crops like mustard, peas, or clover in the fall to prevent erosion, then turn them into the soil in spring to boost nutrients. This will also help minimize weeds in the spring since seeds have less area to germinate and pop up with a cover crop in place. 

• Expand Planting Areas. If you want to increase your planting space, fall is a great time to set up new raised beds or smother/remove grass and prepare for an in-ground bed. 

4. Show Your Trees and Shrubs Some Love 

Fall is a prime time to plant trees and shrubs. The roots have a chance to settle in and grow beneath the surface instead of worrying about producing leaves. It’s the perfect season to start a new hedge or establish a shade tree, as the soil remains warm enough to encourage root growth before winter sets in. Additionally, providing some fall care for your established trees and shrubs will help them better withstand the colder months. 

Follow these fall gardening tips for trees and shrubs: 

• Plant New Trees and Shrubs. You can plant deciduous trees and shrubs until about a month before the ground typically freezes. While evergreen species can be planted in the fall, they generally perform better when planted in the spring. 

• Keep Up With the Watering. Ensure newly planted and established trees and shrubs are well-watered in the fall. This helps them tolerate harsh winter conditions and is particularly important for evergreens because their needles are working hard all year round. 

• Replenish Mulch. Apply a fresh layer of mulch, such as bark mulch, wood chips, pine needles, or shredded leaves, around trees and shrubs to insulate roots from winter temperatures. Keep the mulch from touching the trunks to prevent rot and disease. 

• Trim Trees Once Dormant. Avoid pruning after September, as this can stimulate tender new growth that may succumb to winter damage. Instead, wait until the leaves have fallen from deciduous trees and shrubs before pruning. Of course, dead limbs and branches can (and should) be pruned off a tree any time of year. 

• Prevent Deer Damage. One of the biggest frustrations in our area is deer browsing and tree damage during the weather. Of course, you can always install a deer fence, but if that’s not an option, protect younger trees and shrubs from deer rubbing their antlers on trunks by using tree wraps or guards in the fall. 

5. Organize Your Tools and Gardening Gear 

As the growing season winds down, don’t forget to prepare your garden tools for winter. Cleaned and refreshed, your favorite garden helpers will be ready when you are, come spring. 

• Clean hand tools. Remove caked on dirt from your garden trowels, pruners, and wash them with soap and water. Let them dry thoroughly and store them in a dry place to prevent rusting. You can go the extra mild and spray with an alcohol solution to rid them of any leftover pests from disease-ridden shrubs you cut back. Don’t forget to wash your favorite gardening gloves so they’re ready to get back to work in spring! Pro tip: they can also come in handy in winter when you’re wrangling a Christmas tree or snow shovel! 

• Sharpen blades. Pruners and loppers can get dull with months and months of use, as can shovels and spades. Many local hardware stores and garden centers have sharpening services and do a great job. 

• Drain hoses and irrigation lines. Before freezing weather sets in, remove any water from your garden hoses and irrigation tubing. Store the hoses and tubing in a garage or shed to minimize damage from a cold, harsh winter. Many plastics tend to disintegrate in weather extremes. 

• Clean and store lawnmowers. After the last mowing of the season in November or early December, it’s important to store your machinery until spring. Drain gas lines of mowers, trimmers, and tillers. Clean blades and change oil as needed before storing machinery in a dry, covered space for winter such as a shed or garage. Don’t forget to store lithium batteries safely for electronic mowers. If you need to dispose of lithium batteries, do so responsibly. Many municipalities will accept them at no charge. 

• Clean out sprayers. Empty and wash out your spraying equipment with soap and water, inside and out. Rinse and allow to air dry before stowing them away for the winter. And if you have leftover chemicals, store them in a safe place where they won’t freeze or dispose of them responsibly at your local transfer station. 

6. Clean Up Annuals and Containers 

We sure do love our petunias and impatiens here in Northern Virginia! Our beloved annuals are typically the first plants to fall victim to frosty fall weather. Once a hard frost takes its toll, it’s time to clean up planting beds and pots, preparing them for new plants in the spring. This is something that can be done easily in an afternoon for most of us so don’t delay! 

• Empty Containers. Freezing and thawing can crack containers, especially clay pots left full of potting mix. After cleaning them out, store your pots and planters in a protected, dry area like a porch, shed or garage. 

• Clean Out Flower Beds. Once frost has taken your annuals plants and flowers, pull them up to prepare the beds for new flowers in the spring. You can even cut them back right at the surface of the soil and let the roots compost away. You may need to work the soil a bit more in the spring, but that’s not hard. 

• Collect and Store Seeds. Save seeds from popular annuals like petunia, coleus, and sunflowers. Place each type in a labeled envelope and store them in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to sow them in spring. 

• Store Tender Bulbs. Warm and hot-weather bulbs and tubers, such as cannas, dahlias, and caladiums, won’t survive our winters, albeit mild. Dig them up shortly after the foliage turns brown in fall and store them in a cool, dry place until planting outside next spring. Often tulip bulbs can rot given our wet conditions in the winters, so if you have some favorite bulbs, dig those up and plant them in containers until spring. Then you can transplant them into the ground and enjoy them until they die back next summer. 

• Take Cuttings to Grow Indoors. Before temperatures drop below 50°F, snip cuttings from favorites like coleus, geraniums, and sweet potato vine. Root them in water to enjoy some indoor winter color, and you can replant them outside in spring. 

Well, there you have it. Your fall garden chores can be a wonderful way to enjoy the cooler temperatures outdoors after a hot summer in Northern Virginia. You can even involve the kids. Remember, a garden is for enjoyment and a little hard work pays off next spring. Now, go treat yourself to a pumpkin spice latte or a hot spiked cider to reward yourself for the job well done! 

Categorized in: Design Tips, Gardening Tips

This post was written by Classic Homes