Want a Better Garden Next Spring? Start This Fall
The Gardeners Who Win Next Spring Start Now
As I write this, it's the end of September and the next 6 weeks of my life are going to be crazy - and great kind of crazy, truth be told: aside from working extra hours at my job, I have a couple of trips coming up (hence the extra hours), so I'm really trying to get some fall gardening finished up.
Why now, in the fall?
A great spring garden doesn't begin when the garden center puts pansies out. It begins months earlier, with what you plant, leave, move, save and notice this fall.
woman removing unwanted plants in the garden woman weeding in the garden in the fall woman scattering seeds in the garden
I love fall because at your leisure (kinda), you can envision and plan, clean and plant. I can also tend to get overwhelmed because we typically take our vacation in the fall, about the time I would do my fall chores. When I start to think about what I want, should or could do, I start feeling a little panicked! So I don't do that to you, here are 5 high-impact things you can do NOW for a successful spring/summer garden (and you may only need a few of these)!
Prioritize what you want to tackle. Look at your garden before doing anything. What worked? What annoyed you all summer? Where was there an empty spot? What plant needs moved? What did you keep thinking, “Next year I want...” Take pictures. Make notes. Pick the things that will make the biggest difference and forget the rest for now.
Clean up only what you need to. Don't automatically cut everything down and haul everything away. Leave seed heads for birds, stems that can provide overwintering habitat, and leaves where they can remain in beds. I would clean up diseased material, things blocking paths, vegetable debris that needs removed, etc.
Plant by seed what makes sense. Many native perennial seeds benefit from the cold, moist conditions of winter to break dormancy, which is why fall sowing can let nature handle the stratification for you. And: SEEDS ARE CHEAP.
Prepare ONE new spot. Maybe you want a little pollinator bed next spring, another patch of natives, an herb garden, or to convert a small piece of lawn. You don't need to redesign the property. Choose one manageable area, figure out what's there now, and start preparing it.
Prep or create your vegetable garden bed for next year. This is where fall work can genuinely buy you time next spring. Clear out spent/diseased vegetable material as appropriate, add compost/organic matter if that's part of your system, mulch or otherwise protect bare soil, and decide whether beds need expanded/repaired. Then spring You isn't standing there thinking, “Why didn't September Me deal with this?”
You don't need to accomplish every possible garden task this fall. Pick the things that will make the biggest difference in your yard, do what you have time to do, and leave the rest. Your garden doesn't need you to be perfect. It just needs a little forethought.
And when spring finally rolls around and everyone else is standing in the garden center wondering where to begin, you'll already have a head start.
Spring gardens are built in fall.
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