Fall Tasks Essential to Garden Beauty
By Ken Lain, The Garden Guy

Each year I travel to other parts of the country in search of new gardening practices to share with my Prescott area clients. I just spent last week touring garden centers throughout South Carolina looking for the latest and best ideas that we might adapt to our local gardens. Many good friends in the industry personally gave me tours of their garden centers. It was time well spent, very inspirational and practical.

I returned home to find the entire county is showing its fall colors; it's so beautiful! The best-looking trees right now are the raywood ash and its royal purple leaves, the flame maples that are an even brighter fiery red than when I left, and the oaks which are just beginning to show off their festive best. As I’ve mentioned before, if you've been thinking of planting a tree to serve as a fall decorative piece in your landscape, the next few weeks are the best time to do it. The leaves of potted trees in garden centers also have turned, enabling you to choose the exact color that will look best in your yard next fall.

If you want to salvage some of your outdoor container plants, they should be brought inside before the first frost. Making the big move, and doing it right, takes time and a little energy. However, if done correctly your plants will provide winter-long indoor enjoyment and be in good health when it’s time for their spring move back to the patio after their “winter vacation”. Here are seven points that will make for a successful transition from outside to indoors.

Give them Shade - There is much less light indoors and plants need to acclimate to this change. So before bringing them inside give them a few days in a shadier spot outdoors, maybe under a tree or a covered patio. Even for those plants that have spent the summer in shade find an even shadier place outside to begin their acclimation.

The Big Cut - This is the time to give these plants their ‘fall haircuts’. Plants usually lose some foliage when first brought inside, but they need many leaves to collect enough sunlight for winter survival indoors. So, prune off dead flowers, yellowed leaves, and anything else you consider unsightly. With a few snips give shape and balance to the remaining foliage. Keep in mind that this is not a buzz cut, only a trim; so leave on lots of the healthy leaves. This cosmetic touch-up also allows for maximum air circulation which reduces bacterial and fungal growth.

Give them the Big Flush - Water contains a good deal of salt and minerals which build up in the soil and on the containers during summer’s thirsty months. Flush each plant with at least a gallon of water until the water is flowing freely from the bottom of the container. Another objective of this more than generous watering is to drown and flush insects living in the soil, so……. flush, flush, flush!

Don't Bug Me - Insect eggs on the stems and leaves will hatch quickly when brought indoors. To head off these unwanted plant tenants, spray the entire plant with fertilome 'Triple Action' before you bring any plant inside. Saturate the stems, foliage, and base of each plant with this organic neem oil spray. It not only kills unwanted pests, but has a naturally residual repellent effect as well. Spray the plant a few days before bringing it indoors so the plant has time to air out.

A Clean Affair – Take this opportunity to clean up the outside of the containers. Wash and brush off mineral residue, debris, and dirty spots that have settled on the pots. Less than pristine containers are common on a patio but less than welcome in a living room. Wipe a light coating of mineral oil on the exterior of clay pots if you like newer-looking containers.

A New ‘House’ - Now is the time to consider repotting. If outdoor container plants have been hard to keep watered, or the roots noticeably spiral around or bunch up in the pot, it is time to repot into the next larger size container. Contrary to popular belief, houseplants like to be slightly root bound because too much soil causes plants to concentrate their energies on putting out new roots to fill the abundance of soil. Any plant focused on growing roots will have a lower flower count and reduced leaf formation. Be sure to use a professional/very high quality potting mix when repotting. It makes for a more successful repotting result.

A Little-Known Secret - Bugs and their offspring live in the soil of container plants and will invade a home when the plants are brought indoors for the winter. I always sprinkle 'Diatomaceous Earth' on top of the soil before bringing my container plants into the house. This all natural product keeps worms, spiders, and fungus gnats from hitching a ride inside where they are not wanted. This is very important to keep outdoor plants healthy indoors.

As I’ve mentioned before, if your garden looks naked after that first frost, replant with cool season flowers that enjoy those low nighttime temps. This is the best time to plant pansies, ornamental kale, dusty miller, snap dragons, and mums, all of which are awaiting you now at your favorite garden center.

Give me a call if you have questions about turning outdoor plants into houseplants, or questions about any garden-related topic. For more information about local area gardening, make a note that my radio show now is every Sunday at 9:30 am on KJAZ, 89.5 FM. Send me an e-mail with comments and garden topics you would like covered in up-coming radio shows or newspaper columns. Go to my website, wattersonline.com, click on the 'Ask a Question' link and you will have access to my personal desktop. I respond to each comment and every question.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

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