Fall is here once again and with the school season back into full swing, here are some helpful fall landscaping tips to keep up with your landscape this season.
If you recently had any new plantings installed, continue to water them every 10 to 14 days until the end of October. The goal is to allow enough time for the roots to establish in existing soil before winter arrives.
General fall landscaping maintenance of your yard is always key. Removing leaves from the lawn and shrub beds will not only keep your home looking neat, but it will help to prevent insects and disease problems associated with leaves. Go ahead and prune out all the deadwood on plants. This will help the tree or shrub provide the proper energy to healthy branches in the spring.
Deer are an ongoing problem in the landscape. A simple way to protect your plants is to use black plastic netting. Cover the deer-loving plants such as yew, arborvitae, and rhododendron by making sure the netting is secured tightly to the ground or a structure. Deer have been known to damage the trunks of young trees by rubbing their antlers against them. You can protect the trunks of young trees with plastic tree wrap but always remember to remove them in spring to ensure healthy tree growth. As fall approaches and the temperatures begin to cool, mid-September into the first weeks of October are ideal times to plant mums. The added color from these flower-packed plants will help to give your home or business the extra splash of color this fall.
There are a variety of colors available at garden centers everywhere starting around the beginning of September. I recommend planting in groups and using two to three colors at most to give the biggest color pop. Blooms have lasted as long as four weeks. Once the blooms have fallen off, we recommend removing the mums before spring. If you do not have the space to plant mums in your landscape, they also make excellent container plants. Please keep in mind that deer and rabbits will eat flower blooms.
