Autumn Gardening Planner

Time to spruce up your garden and take care of these fall gardening chores to help make next growing season a bit easier.

Fall Container Plant

Fall Container Plant

Trade out your tired patio tomatoes and peppers for cool season spinach, lettuces, kale and parsley. Mix them with pansies for an edible fall container planting, says Cameron Watkins of C. Watkins Garden Co.

Photo by: Cameron Watkins

Cameron Watkins

Trade out your tired patio tomatoes and peppers for cool season spinach, lettuces, kale and parsley. Mix them with pansies for an edible fall container planting, says Cameron Watkins of C. Watkins Garden Co.

Early Fall

  • Prepare beds for spring planting.
  • Plant spring bulbs, except tulips, in beds and lawns.
  • Plant containers and baskets for winter color.
  • Take hardwood cuttings.
  • Sow sweet peas for an early display the following year.
  • Plant wallflowers for spring color.
  • Bring houseplants back indoors, checking for pests and diseases first.
  • Protect slightly tender exotics from frost by wrapping in fleece.
  • Cover slightly tender perennials with a thick mulch of straw or bark chippings.
  • Move tender dahlia tubers and cannas inside.
  • Turf or sow lawns.
  • Apply a fall lawn fertilizer to established lawns.
  • Lay chamomile lawns.
  • Make a woodpile shelter for wildlife.
  • Prune hedges for the last time.

Ideas for Fall Container Gardens

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Late Fall

  • Plant shrubs, roses, trees, hedges, climbers and fruit bushes.
  • Plant tulips.
  • Sow broad beans.
  • Plant onions and garlic.
  • Grow trees from seed.
  • Indoors, plant amaryllis bulbs and prepared hyacinths and narcissi.
  • Trim late-flowering shrubs to reduce winter wind damage.
  • Rake up fallen leaves and compost.
Fall Garden Cleanup List
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Any Time of Year

  • Make a compost bin; fill, turn and empty when necessary.
  • Make a wooden obelisk.
  • Create a bog garden.
  • Dig out a pond.
  • Make a border and lawn edge.
  • Make a rose arch.
  • Check tree ties, and loosen if necessary.
  • Look out for pests and diseases, and take appropriate action.
  • Cut out dead or diseased wood.
  • Clean all cutting tools after use to prevent spreading plant diseases.

Next Up

Summer Gardening Planner

Follow this handy checklist and caring for your garden will be easier, quicker and more satisfying.

Winter Gardening Planner

Consult this handy checklist for wintertime care and maintenance of your garden.

Spring Gardening Planner

Do these tasks during spring and caring for your garden will be easier, quicker and more satisfying.

How to Grow Patio Roses in Containers

Plant in containers so you can stop and smell the roses on your patio, deck or balcony.

What to Prune in Late Fall

To prune or not to prune? Get answers to your late-year pruning questions.

Why You Should (and Shouldn't) Apply Fall Mulch

Find out the pros and cons of laying down mulch this fall.

Mums 101: When To Plant and How To Grow Chrysanthemums

Mums can give you color until the cold comes. Here’s how to make the queen of autumn gardens thrive.

How to Protect Plants From Frost

Protect shrubs, flower and vegetable beds from frosts and freezes with these pro tips and garden hacks.

How to Fertilize Your Lawn in Fall

Should you add lawn fertilizing to your fall to-do list? It depends. Learn what you need to know about fall lawn feeding.

When to Plant Bulbs

Not sure when to plant spring bulbs? Take the guesswork out of knowing when to plant tulips and a host of other bulbs.

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