Plan Your Fall Flower Garden Early
For the best selection of annuals and perennials that shine in the fall, shop in the spring, when garden centers have the largest selection. You can always add to your landscape when other fall annuals become available.
Plant Fall Flowers Together
For the maximum impact, set aside an area where you can cluster fall plants. A bed of late-season blooms and colorful foliage creates a fabulous focal point in any yard.
Mix It Up
Design your fall garden using trees, shrubs, vines and grasses, as well as annual and perennial flowers. You’ll have a garden with texture, movement and amazing color.
Add Color to Your Fall Garden
Choose plants that complement the traditional fall palette to make colors even more vibrant. On the color wheel, green complements red, blue complements orange and purple compliments yellow. If you’ve never planted flowers, don’t worry. Here’s how to plant flowers in your garden.
Fill In With Fall Annuals
By autumn, a few spring and early-summer plants may have died back, leaving you with gaps to fill. Buy cool-season annuals, or start them from seed in midsummer.
Put Out More Fall Flower Pots
If your fall garden calls for color or texture, landscaping with containers may be the easiest solution. Assemble fall flower pots to accent or fill in any ho-hum spots in your flower beds.
Don’t Forget To Water
The sun-drenched days of summer may be over, but your garden still needs water to survive. If your landscape isn’t getting enough rain, water any new plants, as well as existing ones, until the ground freezes.
Trim and Prune Fall Flower Gardens
Weeding, raking leaves, removing diseased and insect-infested plants and dividing overgrown plants not only helps your yard look great, it prepares your garden to survive the winter.
Skip Fall Fertilizer
Plant growth should slow before winter sets in, so don’t encourage it with fertilizers. You can continue feeding container plants, though, to extend their late-season beauty.
Know Your Frost Date
A key event on any garden calendar is the average date of the first frost. Even a light frost can damage certain plants, signaling the close of the growing season.
Source: familyhandyman.com
