After the colorful richness of summer, it is already time for autumn to unfold its splendor. The nights are getting colder and longer and nature is dressing up in a colorful coat. For hobby gardeners and garden owners, the final spurt now begins: preparing the garden for the coming winter. Removing leaves, cutting trees and bushes, overwintering potted plants and planting bulb flowers should all be done in the fall. In this article you will find many useful tips for fall gardening, as well as a to-do list.
What are the most important gardening tasks in autumn?
The outdoor season is coming to an end and it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. The garden requires a lot of care in autumn to look beautiful and to produce a good harvest next season. In addition, proper garden care willSpring workconsiderably easier. The first step to a beautiful garden in fall is cleaning. If you collect autumn leaves regularly, your garden would look well-groomed even in this season. You should also prune plants such as roses, perennials and hedges and prepare the lawn and beds for the first frost. The apple and pumpkin harvest still takes place in autumn.
Remove autumn leaves
In autumn, leaves constantly collect on lawns and beds and should therefore be removed so that the blades of grass get enough air. As a rule, you can do this every two weeks as long as the layer of leaves has not become too thick in the meantime. Autumn leaves still collect in gutters and garden ponds, so you need to consider cleaning them as well.
Tip: The collected leaves and dead plant parts are perfect for composting. To do this, they should be shredded together with branches and twigs and stored properly. You can also use the collected autumn leaves to protect the plants and beds from the cold.
Garden care for plants in the fall months
Proper fall gardening requires just as much care for the plants. For example, you should prepare potted plants for the winter in good time and bring them into their winter quarters. However, there are some varieties that...overwinter in the gardenmay. These are, for example, boxwood, conifers and bamboo. Other potted plants, on the other hand, cannot survive the winter outdoors, so they must be stored indoors during the cold season. You should definitely do this before the first frost. However, you can prepare bushes in the ground for winter with an insulating bubble wrap, some mulch and dead leaves.
Shrubs and trees in the garden need pruning in autumn and spring to remove old, dead branches. Proper fall pruning usually depends on the plant, but typically about a quarter of the height is cut. Basically, you should only cut off dead, thin, diseased branches and parts of plants that have grown too long. You can inquire at any garden center about how to properly cut each plant.
During the autumn months the hedges need a final trim to avoid rotting in wet conditions. The autumn leaves should definitely be removed from the hedges, otherwise they can rot due to lack of air and light. Roses do not need to be completely pruned in the fall as they are in the spring, but they can be shortened a little.
Garden care for the lawn in autumn
Caring for the lawn is an absolute must on the to-do list. It is important to regularly remove leaves from lawns, otherwise the grass will not receive light. This creates deserted areas and moss forms on the ground. The best time to mow the lawn for the last time in the fall is early November. The optimal length for the grass is no less than 5 centimeters.
A special fertilizer for autumn is recommended because it has a high potassium content, which increases frost resistance. This must not be replaced by a conventional lawn fertilizer because this promotes the growth of the lawn, which makes it more susceptible to frost.
Plant spring flowers
Autumn is the ideal time to plant bulb flowers. These can therefore form roots before the beginning of winter and quickly get used to the chosen location. Examples of beautiful bulbous plants include snowdrops, daffodils and of course tulips. They are best left inflowerbedsand can be planted in groups according to size or color. Other plants that need a certain amount of time to get used to are foxglove, mullein and gold lacquer. That's why it's worth planting them in autumn. If you want to plant perennials, it's best to wait until spring. Otherwise losses may occur.
Because of the regular rains, the soil is supplied with a lot of moisture. In addition, the earth is still warm, so this time is perfect for various planting and transplanting work in the garden. While gardening in the fall, you can also add new plants to colorize the garden area before winter. The time before the first frost is perfect for planting roses, for example. Autumn is also a good time to plant fruit trees.
The last harvest
Autumn time also means harvest time, which is why it is now important to harvest the last cucumbers, eggplants, chives, beets and celeriac. Tomatoes and peppers can wait until the first frost, but you must harvest the ripe tomatoes along with the green tomatoes immediately afterwards.
Autumn is still known as the harvest time for apples and pumpkins. If the apples are easy to pick and the pumpkin sounds hollow when tapped, then you should also harvest them.
In order to prepare the garden well for the cold season, you have to do the garden work on time. We have created a short to-do list that includes all the most important tasks for the garden in autumn.
- Remove and collect autumn leaves regularly from beds, lawns and hedges
- Place potted plants in their winter quarters
- Prepare perennials and shrubs in the garden for winter with foliage, giants and foil
- Harvest fruits, vegetables and herbs
- Pruning trees, bushes, hedges and roses
- Collect and store seeds
- Fertilize the lawn with special autumn fertilizer
- Plant spring flowers
- Dig up summer flower bulbs and store them properly
- The last lawn mowing in early November
- Turn off water connections and remove pond pumps
