10 Essential Fall Landscape Tasks

It was cold outside this week! On Thursday it was 24 degrees at our house with a reading of 29 degrees at the farm in Cottonwood. This shouldn’t surprise us since the 100-year average of first frost in the region is October 19th. Growing up as a local trick-or-treater I can remember Halloween often being cold.

After this first seasonal freeze trees and shrubs will ignite with color. To me this change in foliage is the firm nudge that makes me think of this as the decorating season. After cutting back my dahlias, I yanked the tomato and squash plants out of the ground and in their places planted winter-blooming flowers and vegetables for interest now through Thanksgiving. If I neglect doing this our landscape is left cold, bare, and uninviting as we enter the holiday season.

Quite frankly, by this time of year I am tired of all the tending, raking, and watering and welcome a break from gardening chores. But a little color outside, a little something easy to tend through winter is just what a gardener needs to get through the cold, gloomy days ahead. For the gardener inside me a container overflowing with colorful violas, pansies, snapdragons, and dusty miller provides just enough winter gardening therapy.

Try playing with just a few flowering plants in a container this fall and I guarantee your winter spirits will be lifted. Just make sure that the flowers you buy from your favorite garden center are not fresh out of the greenhouses, but are acclimated to the cold. We call this ‘hardening off’ the flowers so customers can take them home and plant them outdoors with success. It’s important to buy plants for outdoor planting that have been exposed to the cold.

Here is my personal fall garden to-do list. These are things I do every fall, related here in order of importance. All of these tasks should be completed by Christmas.

Essential #1 - The most important and easiest job for fall is feeding. Within the next few weeks feed every plant in a landscape. An autumnal feeding makes a huge difference because it helps plants survive a harsh winter and promotes better spring growth that begins in February. Plants will use this food this winter to incubate leaf and flower buds that will ignite into new growth next spring. I recommend my “All Natural Plant Food”, specifically designed for mountain landscapes. I even encourage feeding those prized natives in our yards.

Essential #2 - Now is when I treat pinion pines for pinion scale. Each tree gets treated with “Systemic Soil Drench”. This is a bug killer that is absorbed through the plant’s roots. Think of it as an antibiotic for trees. Apply once now and again next March and you’ll have the healthiest, best-looking pinions you’ve seen in years.

Essential #3 - Change irrigation clocks to come on during the warmest time of the day. During the growing season my clocks usually cycle pre-dawn; they now start at 11:00 am. My trees and shrubs get watered twice a month through March.

Essential #4 - I change from Round-Up weed killer to a cool season weed killer called “Weed Free Zone”. Round-Up is completely ineffective in cold weather.

Essential #5 - I go on watch for large aphids. If the leaves and rocks at the bases of trees are glistening like a morning’s dew then aphids have begun their assault. My all-natural “Fruit Tree Spray” wipes these life-draining insects right off the trees.

Essential #6 - A layer of insulation over the valves of an irrigation box is insurance against a hard winter. A bag of shredded cedar mulch simply laid on top of the box insulates comparably to a sandbag against winter damage repairs next spring. Insulate hose bibs, especially those away from the house. Lastly, consider wrapping heat tape around the back-flow preventer sticking up out of the ground. Each of these irrigation parts is very expensive to replace but very easily and inexpensively protected from cold damage.

Essential #7 - If your lawn is heat-stressed or doggie-damaged, it’s best to de-thatch before applying that feeding of my “All Natural Plant Food”. This will start the healing process. Two weeks after feeding add a granular supplement called “Soil Activator”. This stuff heals a stressed lawn, encourages growth in bare patches, and keeps the lawn an intense green longer into winter. It also prevents additional thatch buildup next spring.

Essential #8 - Now is the best time to apply “Weed & Grass Preventer” to rock lawns. Winter weeds like foxtail and dandelions will emerge after the next few storms and become a serious problem just after the holidays. “Weed & Grass Preventer” eliminates weeds that can come back via seed.

Essential #9 - I soldier on with my battle to keep gophers out of the landscape, mice out of the sheds and garage, and pack rats out of the built-in grill and spa.

That’s my list. Apply these minimal maintenance tasks and you’ll find your winter-blooming flowers brighter, the evergreens greener, and your spring growth more exciting than ever.
My free gardening classes are held every Saturday morning at 9:30. Each class is about one hour long, aimed at helping you create a standout landscape. The October 31 subject is “The Top 10 Trees for Fall Color” and on November 7th we’ll cover, in depth, the topic “Winterizing Your Garden”. Join us for a lot of practical, timely, local gardening information.
Until next week, I'll see you in the garden center.

Throughout the week Ken Lain is at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road, Prescott, and can be contacted through his web site at www.wattersonline.com. Ken says, "My personal mission is to help local homeowners garden better in our mountain landscapes."

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