Preparing Your Garden for Fall: Expert Tips for a Thriving Winter Landscape。
As temperatures drop in northern regions, it’s crucial to keep your garden in top shape. Fall presents an excellent opportunity for gardening, and experts share their top tips for maintaining a beautiful landscape through the winter months.
Optimal Planting Season
“Fall is an ideal time for planting,” says Stacy Paetzel, founder and principal of Marshall Paetzel Landscape Architecture (MPLA) in Long Island, New York. “Plants start to go dormant and require fewer resources like water and nutrients than during the growing season.”
Now is the perfect moment to prepare and plant, ensuring a flourishing garden come spring. Paetzel suggests focusing on various aspects to enhance your garden’s winter appeal.
Incorporate Art and Lighting
Lush shrubs and vibrant berries enhance the fall landscape, according to Paetzel. She recommends planting bulbs such as snowdrops, crocuses, and daffodils, which bloom in late winter. Additionally, shrubs with berries like winterberry and American holly add seasonal color.
Paetzel advises leaving grasses and perennials standing through winter for visual interest and wildlife habitat. However, cut back seed heads from self-seeding plants and remove any weeds before they spread.
Paetzel also highlights the beauty of winter garden structures and textures, such as tree branches and bark. Adding art and well-placed lighting can brighten up the short winter days. A small heater in garden ponds or water features can prevent freezing, attracting overwintering birds.
Emphasize Sculptural Interest
Fernando Wong, a Miami-based landscape designer, emphasizes that fall and winter are the best times to plant trees. This timing allows them to acclimate during their dormant stage. Incorporate cold-tolerant seasonal flowers like pansies and winter-blooming plants such as witch hazel for visual interest.
Wong also suggests using plants that provide winter interest through their seed heads or branch colors. For example, red twig dogwoods and woody stalks with seed heads like alliums or echinaceas add sculptural elements to your garden.
To prepare for winter, Wong recommends wrapping sensitive shrubs and hedges with burlap to protect them from harsh winds and snow. A fresh layer of mulch can act as a blanket, safeguarding plants during colder months. Look for frost-resistant and deer-resistant plants, such as Ilex verticillata (red sprite) or Ilex glabra (inkberry), and consider Eastern red cedar for winter hedges.
Choose Hardy Plants and Care for Containers
Janice Parker, a landscape designer, advises planting hardy options like Narcissus, which thrives in groups, and Oriental poppies and peonies, known for enduring cold temperatures. Peonies, in particular, are long-lived and can handle neglect and freezing weather.
Parker also suggests incorporating shrubs and trees with winter fruits and berries, such as chokeberries and hawthorns, to maintain visual interest. Ensure evergreens are planted in the fall to establish roots before the cold sets in and water them throughout winter, especially if snow cover is lacking. Anti-desiccant sprays can protect evergreens in windy or sunny locations.
Fall is also a great time to assess and feed your lawn or start a new one from seed. Consider slow-release high-nitrogen fertilizers, with cow manure as a preferred option. Keep the grass short to burn off weed seeds and make leaf collection easier.
Finally, don’t overlook potted plants. Small evergreens and dwarf yews make attractive container plants. Ensure they receive adequate water and care during the winter, especially in the absence of snow cover.
By following these expert tips, you can maintain a vibrant and healthy garden throughout the colder months.
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