It’s hard to believe fall is nearly upon us, and as much as we’ll miss the summer sun, I am over the moon to be heading into autumn. The colours, the hearty food, and the sweater weather—what’s not to love?! However, what I’m most excited about is all the fall planting; there aren’t many things more rewarding than settling a new tree, shrub, or perennial into its new home. Fall is our chance to set the stage for a breathtaking landscape for a full year, and for years to come. Here’s how you can start planning for fall planting!
Your garden can only be as good as the beds you plant in. Fall is a great time to get your beds into shape, whether you plan to plant in them within the next month or next spring.
If you want to get a jump on next year’s garden with some brand new beds, start by defining the new beds and digging them out. This process is easiest after a rainfall when the soil is soft and workable. You can mark the area with stakes or chalk paint to figure out the shape you want, then dig it up and turn the soil. When turning the soil, you’ll want to dig down to a minimum depth of six inches, but 12 inches is better, and 18 inches is best! Top up the beds with new topsoil and a few inches of compost to work into the beds, then lay down newspapers or landscaping fabric to squash out the weeds and grass. (Remember to use paper newsprint, not the glossy stuff.) If you’re not a fan of how the newspaper looks in the yard, you can conceal it with a layer of mulch. By next spring, the bed will be ready to fill with new plants!
You can apply these same principles to existing beds that you want to freshen up for this or the following year, minus the marking and digging. This might also be a great time to dig up and divide any older perennials if you have them. At this time of year, the soil is cooling down to a comfy temperature, and perennials will adapt easily to replanting.
Now that you’ve made space for your planting, it’s time to get strategic. At this stage of the year, the growing season should be fresh in mind. Your job right now is to think back to the spring and summer while looking ahead to fall and winter.
First, look around the yard and consider the different areas that lacked colour in the spring and summer. Then, take a good glance around at all your plants and consider whether you’ll have any fall colour in the landscape. Finally, take a long hard look around and ask yourself, will any of these plants stand through the winter? Furthermore, will they look any good?
Asking these questions will help you zero in on the areas of opportunity in your landscape. If you love how your yard looks in the spring, but the other seasons don’t really stand out to you, now is the perfect time to plant some shrubs, trees, and perennials that will make your yard look great all year long.
You may have one yard, but you technically have four landscapes; spring, summer, fall, and winter. Thinking about your landscape this way is a good mindset to get into when planning your fall plantings.
To start planning, first, start sketching! If you’ve already mapped out where the sun exposure falls on your landscape, that’s a great starting point. Sketch out and label all the constant elements of the yard, for example, “ash tree,” “deck,” “coneflower,” etc. They can be blobs, just make sure they’re labelled blobs. Leave some room to make notes!
Starting with spring, work through each season and consider what you want your focal point to be as you move through the year. Review all of the blobs that represent plants; which ones have colour in the spring? Where are they? Are there any areas that could be spruced up for a better spring display?
Remember that, in spring, you’ll have tons of options for filling in space with annuals. However, summer tends to trip people up a little more. We tend to assume that the yard will be full of colour when the weather is sunny and warm, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Take a look at your summer garden now. Notice where you had spring colour that isn’t there anymore, and figure out where your summer colour is— did it overlap with your spring colour, or did you have to wait until August for it to appear? Did you have areas that went weeks without a single bloom? Summer-blooming perennials, especially native perennials, are excellent for brightening those dull areas—if your summer landscape has been lacking, add some to your shopping list.
Now, on to autumn. Fall colour is one of those things we don’t tend to think about until we see it. Luckily, fall is also the best time to plant things like maples and shrubs, which are some of the best fall colour delivery systems. If you have a very small yard, look for trees and shrubs with multi-season colour, like spring flowers, summer fruit, and beautiful fall foliage.
Also, if you can, I strongly recommend that you plant a Japanese maple. Trust me, when the fall peaks, you’ll be glad you did.
Plants for winter interest are probably the most neglected of all, but by the time you need them, it’s too late! Plant evergreens now; they’re great for filling empty spaces, and they bring colour to the snowy landscape. Many hydrangeas leave their blooms standing after they go dormant; they’re some of my favourites for both summer and winter interest.
I always say to visit the garden centre every season, because your landscape’s needs will change at least as often! Bring your sketches, your notes, and all your seasonal colour hopes and dreams. At Royal City Nursery, we absolutely love working with folks to help them achieve all-season beauty in the landscape. Fall is only rivalled by spring as far as planting seasons go, so now is the time to do all the planting you wish you did last May!
However, if planning and planting aren’t really your “thing,” but you still crave a colourful yard, we can help! We also offer full-service landscape design services to transform your yard. Book a consultation, and leave it up to us to think about your four landscapes!
