From the colors to the crops - FALL is one of my favorite seasons!

There is color everywhere!   Just look around in September and October and you’ll see trees exploding in beautiful fall colors.  Maples like ‘Autumn Flame’, ‘October Glory’ and ‘Red Sunset’ are scarlet in color and some of my favorites for fall color.  My wife Dee and I love to travel and we always make a point to go where there is gorgeous fall color.

As much as we love to travel, we usually don’t stay away too long because I’m always eager to get home to my garden and enjoy another of my favorite pastimes, eating! In August and continuing into the early fall you’re just starting to reap the fruits of your labor and begin eating out of your garden.  There is nothing like eating straight from the garden.  Ripe cantaloupes, tomatoes, sweet corn, and freshly dug potatoes are best at the end of summer and early fall.

Even though fall is on the way, there are a few things you can do now to keep your landscape interesting and colorful, and even a few things that will help kick-start your plants and garden for next spring.

In August, use a good slow release fertilizer on the plants in your landscape, (except for Japanese Maples) …you know the old saying, “put everything to bed well fed”.  Your plants will appreciate this last feeding before winter sets in.  

Don’t give up on your pots and containers this fall.    This year replant your annual containers with some of the winter-hardy perennials and shrubs we have grown.  Pop in a few pansies and you’ve got yourself colorful containers that will give you something beautiful to look at until spring.  Cabbage and kale look great planted in a container, so take your time while you’re in the garden center - you’ll find plenty of good choices for filling your pots this fall. “Budget Friendly Containers for Fall” (pg 14) will give you some great fall container designs that won’t break the bank.  Don’t forget to vote for your favorite!

I always get asked, “Is it too late to plant vegetables?” and my answer is “your garden can continue to produce vegetables for months”.  Some of my favorite vegetables are planted in late summer and harvested months later after the fall rains and the first frost have had a chance to work their magic.  Learn more about edibles to plant in the garden this fall in “Extend Your  Growing Season” (pg 24).

Late summer is a good time to put down a cover crop in your vegetable garden.  Cover crop is a mixture of seeds, usually legumes and rye that grow over the winter and help your garden by suppressing weeds and building the soil.  If you are using organic fertilizers in your garden, till them in so they can start to decay and mature and begin their release process.  By adding the organics in now, you’re garden will be ready to grow in the spring.  You can learn more about how to create your own organic material to add to your soil in “A Beginner’s Guide to Composting” (pg 22). 

Get ready to hunker down for the winter but be sure to enjoy fall.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons, from the colors to the crops -  fall is fantastic!

Happy Fall Gardening!

Jack