Fall gardening

Can you feel it?

That lovely crisp chill is in the air. Yes, fall is here and now it’s time to get your garden ready for winter! It’s a beautiful time of year to work outside; the humidity of summer is gone and there are fewer bugs to drive you crazy while you’re working. The gardening season is upon us; the temperatures will go down and the garden will flourish.

This is the time to think about your spring planting too. It’s time to plan, prepare and plant. Start seeds for transplants, plant cool season vegetables, bulbs, and fall and winter flowers. Fresh vegetables and herbs will soon grace your table, and fall annuals will bring color to your garden. A little work now will put your garden in top shape for growing in the spring.

Garden clean-up is the first thing on the agenda. Remove any dead vegetables, plants, and spent annuals and add them to your compost pile. Cut back your perennials that have turned yellow or brown. If they still have green growth, it’s best to leave them alone until spring, then cut back the dead stems. Remove any diseased leaves and plants. This is very important because if left in the garden the bacteria and spores can spread to other plants and cause problems next season. Do not put them in your compost pile. Burn them if non-toxic or bag them up and take them to your landfill. Remove any extra fallen leaves from garden beds and add new mulch. (Too many leaves can retain water that could lead to root rot in your perennials and also attract pests.)

Now is also the time to plant crops that will grow and produce throughout the winter months. Some options are beans, squash, tomatoes , onions, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, and turnips. Put a few in the ground or in a container; either method will work for many vegetables.

Herbs are a good crop to plant now. Most of the common herbs can be grown seasonally in Florida for home use, and planted from seeds or plants. Some examples include parsley, cilantro, chives, garlic, sage, dill, oregano, and fennel. Herbs are perfect for container gardening or can be used as a border planting as part of a flower garden. If they receive enough sunlight, a few herbs can even be grown indoors.

Put a little color in your garden to brighten up where you cleaned out dead summer foliage and mulch. Turning over your soil in the fall helps to loosen it so you can easily remove weed roots. Any that you miss are exposed to the frost of winter. This weakens and often kills the weeds completely.

While you’re preparing the soil for your vegetable garden, throw in a hand full of daffodil bulbs or other spring bulbs to bring a little spring happiness to a visually empty spot. Also, at this time of the year, you can plant foxglove, petunia, Shasta daisy, and pansy, which are all cool-weather annuals. As you’re loosening the soil, mix in the old foliage, grass clippings and any leaves to use as compost. They add nutrients to the soil. Then rework the beds and mulch what you will leave bare over the winter.

Also think about those small trees you may have just planted by wrapping the trunks and stake them. Strong fall winds can blow them back and forth, and they may suffer breaking off at their roots, which can happen if they’re not established. When tying to a stake, don’t use rough wire around the trees. Instead, run the wire through a section of garden hose so the wire doesn’t cut into the tree bark.

Now that the garden season has come to an end, it’s also time to put away all the tools you’ve been using during the year, including any temporary trellises, netting, tomato cages and any equipment that could be tripped on. Care for your equipment. Hose off any dirt and coat metal parts with vegetable oil so they don’t rust. Rub linseed oil on wooden tool handles so they don’t dry out and crack. Perform maintenance on any power equipment. Drain gas to keep it from gumming up parts over the winter. Check spark plugs and air filters to make sure they’re clean.

Next, look to the garden shed or tool closet. If yours looks anything like mine, tools and supplies that were taken out and hastily put back need to be reorganized. Get rid of unused insecticides and fungicides; they lose strength after being open. Watch out for wasp nests that may have been built under the eaves over the summer.

Take in potted plants that won’t stand up to the low temperatures of our winter. Hose them off thoroughly to clean them up and make sure they’re free of critters that would love to be bought into your home.

Gardening is a life-affirming activity. Working with family is both an exercise in cooperation and an exercise for the body. Fresh veggies and flowers bring a smile and a promise of good things to come.

Fall isn’t the time to be the lazy grasshopper nor the busy ant who works himself into a frenzy trying to get ready for winter. Try to find a happy medium so that you and your garden can work together, and you can enjoy the process and the results.