Fall Gardening: What to Leave, Plan, Plant and Dream About for Spring

Fall gardening doesn't have to be a frantic race against the first frost. Some things are better left alone, some are worth planning, a few are worth planting, and others? Well, those can wait until spring. For now, we can simply dream about what's possible. Dreaming and envisioning are actually one of my favorite things to do in the fall...and it's less work than cleanup, lol!

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  Seeds left on flower stalks in a garden

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  Woman admiring her flower garden

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  Woman planting in her garden

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  Monarch butterfly in colorful flower garden

1. LEAVE

Leave the leaves where practical, standing stems, seed heads, and some of the untidy bits that provide winter habitat. A garden doesn't need to be spotless to be healthy, it's actually the opposite. When we clean up too much, we remove the things our lawn needs, our landscape needs and a whole bunch of critters!

• Overwintering insects need leaf litter. Insects like Luna and Polyphemus moths, woolly bear caterpillars (Isabella tiger moths), queen bumble bees, swallowtail and great spangled fritillary butterflies, firefly larvae, and beneficial predators like lady beetles and assassin bugs—rely on fallen leaf cover to survive the winter. When we bag up all our leaves and ship them off to the city, then we've lost those little fireflies, butterflies and beautiful moths we would have seen the following year. And also...

• We get free fertilizer! Leaves break down into soil, nutrient rich soil. I totally understand an HOA and the desire to keep things tidy. If you can't tolerate the thought of keeping a scattering of leaves on your lawn, perhaps consider blowing them all into your landscaping. There, the leaves will break down and feed your landscape plants and they'll provide the habitat necessary for the aforementioned overwintering insects.

2. PLAN

Remember what worked and what didn't. Take photos, make notes, identify gaps in your plantings. This is where practicality matters:

• Factor in what works for your lifestyle. If you lead a busy life, adding more garden beds than you can handle is a recipe for a stressful gardening season.

• What have you always wanted in your yard: A water feature? Chickens? A pollinator garden? I raise these possibilities because much of the prep work can be done in the fall, so you don't feel behind in the spring. As far as chickens go, many chicks are ordered in the early part of the year, with many popular breeds sold out by late spring, so thinking ahead pays off. In the case of a pollinator garden, fall is the cheapest and easiest time to plant by seed, instead of having to buy plants in the spring. The reason....

3. PLANT

Fall is a wonderful time for many native perennials, shrubs and trees. And some native seeds can be sown now to experience winter's natural cold stratification. What that means in plain terms: many native perennial plants need to go through a cold snap in order to germinate (grow) the next season.

Fall is also a great time to go ahead and plant any native shrubs and trees. Why?

• It keeps the energy focused on the roots: because deciduous trees go dormant and stop growing leaves or flowers, they direct all their energy into building a strong root system. 

• Less transplant shock: Milder weather and consistent fall rains put far less strain on a young tree than the abrupt heat or drought of an Ohio summer.

As a side note, if you're up in the air on a tree you'd like to add to your landscaping and you have a bit of room: you can never go wrong with an oak tree. Oak trees are what's called a "Keystone species", which means they're a really big deal! One oak tree is a host plant to over 500 species of butterflies and moths!

4. DREAM

My favorite part for this article! What would you love to see next year? More butterflies? A little pond? A native shrub? A new place to sit and watch your backyard come alive?