DON’T MAKE THESE FALL LANDSCAPING MISTAKES
Fall might be the end of the gardening season, but it’s not time to just drop all the yard work and head inside to focus on winter activities. Your yard and garden need a few more maintenance tasks done before winter to ensure everything makes it through the cold and your spring maintenance goes smoothly.
Here are a few common fall landscaping mistakes we see fairly often—avoid these, and you’ll set yourself up for success next spring!
NOT WRAPPING TREES AND SHRUBS
The chilly temperatures and stronger winter winds can be a deadly combination for evergreen trees, shrubs, and plants. These things can cause plants to dry out super fast. Add in the risk of ice storms and heavy snowfall, and trees face many risks in the winter. Additionally, when an evergreen tree or shrub develops winterkill, dead brown patches from overexposure, it’s usually stuck with that blemish for life.
You can usually prune deciduous trees and shrubs in a way that encourages them to fill in a gap, or to even out to a more uniform shape. Unfortunately, most evergreens don’t do this. Once you remove a branch, it’s gone, and there’s not much you can do to fill in that space again. So it’s a good idea to wrap up your smaller and newly-planted evergreen trees and shrubs with burlap in the fall to keep them insulated and protected from the hazards of winter!
NOT WATERING NEW TREES & SHRUBS
Well-hydrated trees and shrubs handle winter better and are less likely to succumb to winterkill from those bitter drying winter winds. Especially newly planted trees that don’t have very established root systems yet.
It’s important to keep watering your trees in the fall, right up until the ground freezes. A slow deep soak is better than a fast surface watering. Invest in a soaker hose, especially for newly planted trees and shrubs, or let the hose run on a slow trickle in 3-4 different places around the root area of new trees for 15-20 minutes each.
PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS TOO LATE
Fall is an excellent time to plant trees and shrubs in your yard. But, there is a point of no return.
The usual rule of thumb is that if trees in the area still have leaves, you can still plant a few more. Ideally, your trees should have a few weeks in the ground to establish some new roots before the ground freezes. If you measure soil temperature, you don’t want to plant once the soil temp is any colder than 50ºF.
CUTTING THE LAWN TOO SHORT, OR LEAVING IT TOO LONG
Cutting your lawn too short in the fall is shocking for your grass, but leaving your lawn too long can cause dead spots where the grass falls over on itself and rots. The sweet spot is 1.5-2.5 inches tall. The best timing is to mow it one more time is a few days before the first frost is predicted to hit.
But, if you left it a bit long, and we’ve already had a hard killing frost, you shouldn’t bust out the lawnmower again. It’s better to leave it a bit too long than to mow after a hard frost.
NOT CLEANING UP THE YARD DEBRIS BEFORE IT SNOWS
Leaving piles of debris around your yard, like thick patches of leaves, can cause you several problems in the spring. Leaves on the lawn can kill off your grass the same way a layer of black plastic would, and they’re a lot more challenging to clean up in the spring when they’re soggy and possibly growing mold.
So, at the very least, make sure you get the leaves raked up off your lawn before the snow flies. If you have a composter, put the leaves in there, or work them into your flower or garden beds to improve the soil. Don’t forget to leave a few little piles of leaves and small sticks in a corner where it won’t affect your lawn—this will give native pollinators a place to overwinter safely.
USING WEED KILLER WHEN ITS TOO COLD
It can be tempting to get the weed killer out when you’re doing fall lawn maintenance, but don’t bother. Weed killers are designed to work best in moderate temperatures. They become significantly less effective when it’s particularly hot or cold outside. Save your money, pull the weeds for now, and get after them with weed killer once it warms up next spring.
NOT TOPPING UP MULCH
You know how you roll out that thick warm comforter every winter to get your bed extra cozy? Your plants will also do best with a nice thick mulch blanket. A layer of mulch 2-4’ thick can help prevent winterkill and insulate your plants from damaging freeze-thaw cycles.
NOT PROTECTING YOUR ROSES
In theory, you should have roses that are hardy enough for our climate. However, it doesn’t hurt to give them a little extra protection. To get roses ready for winter, you should stop fertilizing and pruning at the end of August.
Once they’ve dropped all their foliage, you can add a thick layer of mulch to the ground over the root ball. If you think they may need extra protection from the drying winds of winter, you can add a rose collar or a rose cone.
If you add a collar, you should fill it with something to insulate the rose’s roots. Dead leaves or straw are the best bet as they don’t hang on to moisture as much. Bark mulch can hold onto dampness, so there is a risk of your roses stems getting too damp and developing rot. The other option is to use a rose cone. You can buy commercial ones or make your own with some chicken wire, stakes, and burlap.
AVOID THESE FALL MISTAKES FOR A HEALTHY SPRING YARD
A little bit of fall maintenance in your yard can protect your landscape investments and set your plants up for a strong and successful growing season next spring. Keep these common mistakes in mind the next time you get to work in your yard!
Need tools, supplies, or advice for winterizing your yard? Swing by our garden center and talk to our knowledgeable staff.