Divide and transplant perennials

Fall is the ideal time to divide and transplant those overgrown perennials. The plants will benefit from cooler autumn temperatures and will establish themselves for fresh, vigorous spring growth.

Plant spring flowering bulbs

Tulips, crocus, daffodils, hyacinths are all planted during the autumn months from late August through January, if the ground is soft enough to get them in. Most of the bulbs need a minimum of about sixty days of cooling in the soil to guarantee spring flowering.

Cut back and clean up perennial beds

The perennial bed by fall is usually looking kind of untidy and needs to be cleaned up. Cut back the foliage to about an inch above the ground line. Compost the foliage, or shred it. Use the shredded foliage to mulch areas of the garden. Pull any weeds you can find. You may also sprinkle a bit of slow release fertilizer around the plants and use a garden scratcher to work into the soil.

Mulch perennial beds

Most perennials will benefit with a light mulching of shredded tree leaves, usually in good supply this time of year. Don’t mulch too heavily, but an inch or so of finely shredded leaves will help keep down weeds the following spring, help conserve water, and enrich the soil as they break down. The mulch will also encourage earthworms, which also fertilize the earth with their castings as the eat the decaying mulch.

Plant pansies

South of USDA Zone 5, pansies make an excellent fall flower to plant. They endure cold winter temperatures. Pansies have bloomed during mild spells on Christmas Day, New Years Day and one year on February 29th. By late March the pansy will begin blooming in earnest and continue until July heat exhausts them. My Indiana garden once had a stretch of sixteen consecutive months with something blooming, mostly because mild spells during the winter allowed the pansy enough time to bloom.

Leaf cleanup

Raking leaves is an annual chore, and many people just throw the leaves away. But the leaves, after running; them through a shredder, make an excellent mulch for the perennial garden. The leaves can be vacuumed up with a lawn blower/vacuum and added to the beds. These machines usually produce an extra fine mulch which is ideal for garden beds.

Plant perennials and shrubs

Fall is the best time to plant most perennials and shrubs, especially potted or balled and burlaped stock. The plants have time to establish themselves before the rigors of winter and will continue putting out fresh root growth during mild spells. By spring they are raring to go.

Take advantage of the beautiful autumn days to spruce up the perennial garden. Working outside in the garden is great exercise for both body and soul with the added benefit that the perennial garden will be ready to produce excellent blooms next season.