Fall Gardening II – the practical non geek version

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By Joel Gillespie 

 

Fall Gardening

Well as of 10:30 last night it is officially fall!

Autumn is the premier time for gardening in South Carolina! Indeed, the period of time we casually refer to as “fall” really consists of the end of summer, autumn proper, and the beginning of winter. Fall is a diverse season, and one of a particular and somewhat melancholy beauty.

But before I get into fall gardening…

 

Fungus

The abundance of later summer rains combined with irrigation systems running as usual have left lots of people with fungal problems in their shrubs and lawns. In the last week I have seen St. Augustine grass, pittosporum, rose, crape myrtle, dogwood, camellia, hawthorne, azalea, aucuba, and hydrangea suffering from fungal problems.

If you suspect fungal disease I would suggest three things prior to treatment. First, clean out all debris from around the plant, including whatever may have built up in the area touching the trunks and stems. Second, remove any and all dead wood from the plant or any parts of the plant obviously impacted by the fungus. Third, turn off irrigation and let the area dry out as much as possible.

It may be necessary to treat the plants and the area with a fungicide but these steps should be followed first.

 

Planting

Fall as you know is the very best time to plant in our climate. True, planting can be done any time of year here, even in the hottest part of the summer or coldest part of the winter, but fall is ideal. Why? Well, the biggest challenge for any newly-planted plant is water uptake. As temperatures decline and transpiration of water from the leaves decreases, water demand decreases. So, yes, we can plant any time of year as long as we water, but the potential consequences of forgetting to water are quick and massive in the summer, and less so in the fall.

The ideal time to plant is while it is still warm enough for reasonable growth (particularly the growth of new roots and root hairs which will serve the plant through the winter) to occur, but not so hot as to stress the plant unnecessarily. If you plant earlier in the fall when it is still quite hot, just be sure to water regularly. If you plant quite late in the fall when temperatures are colder that’s OK too, since the temperature just a little bit below ground level is higher than air temperature and warm enough for slow root growth. Just add some extra mulch for insulation and don’t forget to water just because it is almost winter. Roots grow in winter too.

Fall is a great time for planting or dividing corms/bulbs/rhizomes/tubers – you know those plants with big storage systems underground that we collectively call “bulbs.” Would you like a cheerful splash of yellow in your garden early next spring? Daffodils will do the job. They are available from a lot of different mail order catalogs (contact me and I will pass along some suggestions). They are best planted in clumps, not isolated here or there. Daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, snowflakes, and true lilies can all be planted from September to November for spring bloom. Day lilies should be planted sooner rather than later. Now is a great time to dig and divide crowded clumps of day lilies for planting around the garden. It is also a good time to divide and plant many irises.

Plant winter blooming annuals such as pansies, snapdragons, violas, sweet william and dianthus as well as ornamental kale and cabbage.

Speaking of digging and dividing and replanting, now is the perfect time to divide crowded beds of black eyed Susan, shasta daisies, phlox, cast iron plant, liriope – pretty much any perennial that likes to spread its wings each year and thus get more and more crowded. The more crowded these plants become the less they bloom, so dividing is really helpful!

 

Clean Up

Fall is the best time to clean out beds and prepare them for winter/spring. If your plants do not seem to be impacted by fungal problems or other disease or scale there is no real need to clear out all the general debris in the beds. But if you have had fungal issues or scale it is good to rake out the loose mulch from around the bedding plants. While you are at it remove dead wood from shrubs and trees. Remove clumps of leaf litter from the crowns of plants, that is, where the main stems come from the ground. It may take crawling around in the bed. Just pretend you’re six and playing hide and seek and it will seem more fun.

If you want to give your plants a good start in the spring, do get rid of those vines that are either smothering your plants and blocking light from reaching their leaves or out competing them at the root level for water and mineral resources. Over and over again, year after year I see individual plants flourish after the competition for light and/or water/nutrients is removed. Wild grape, cross vine, honeysuckle, smilax, sweet autumn clematis, confederate jasmine, cucumber vine, Carolina moonseed vine, potato vine – these are all stealing light from your plants and keeping them from growing food effectively, while English ivy, thick stands of vinca, Asiatic jasmine, fig vine run amok, – these are stealing water and nutrients and keeping your plants from flourishing. There is almost not a single good thing that can be said about these ground covers and vines on and around your plants. They need to go. And for what it’s worth, I have the guys to help you!

Looking ahead to next spring there are actually some beautiful slower-growing ground covers that will not swamp your plants – let’s talk about that next spring.

 

Composting/Mulching

Thinking of autumn and autumn leaf fall, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most important things you can do in the fall, and that is rescue those precious leaves from the landfill! Every year we send away tons and tons of nature’s very own mulch and compost, and then spend money to replace it with inferior material! It makes no sense whatsoever.

Even though plants in fall do transfer important nutrients from leaves back to the stems and roots to use the next year, much is left in the leaf that can be turned by soil microbes into a wonderful medium for plant growth. This process also builds a rich and diverse soil ecosystem.The microbes and other invertebrate animals that make a living on decomposing leaf litter themselves become food for insects which become food for birds. Leaves also provide organic material for our sandy soils which allows the soil to hold on to more water and nutrients.

Leaves do not have to be worked into the soil – they can be spread as mulch and over time worms and other critters will incorporate them into the soil.

As you know, leaves that are simply thrown into a pile and forgotten will create mats which take a long time to decompose. The trick to maximizing the potential of leaves in the garden is shredding!

One of the easiest ways to shred leaves is to spread them out a few inches deep and go over them a few times with the lawn mower. You can also purchase a gas or electric leaf shredder locally or online. The electric shredders are much less expensive and a little more tedious to operate, but well worth the money and effort. I used one for years in Greensboro and transformed our red clay soil into a thing of beauty. But again, using the lawn mower also works.

Spread these shredded leaves around your plants or place them in a compost bin and let the magic begin!

 

Pruning

Winter creates an interesting challenge when it comes to pruning. There are basically two questions. First, how long after pruning is it likely to be before there is a hard freeze? Pruning almost always stimulates new growth, growth which tends at first to consist of soft herbaceous tissue. If there is a hard freeze before this soft new growth can harden up it can be killed back by the cold, producing a dead stub. This is both unsightly and an unnecessary opening to the plant of disease. Sometimes it is just better to wait a bit until winter dormancy has set in. I would say prune soon or wait. Second, does the plant bloom in early spring? If it does it is probable that the plant has already invested energy in producing flower buds with winter resistant scales. Obviously if one cuts away these buds in the process of pruning there will be few blooms the following spring, and the plant will have wasted its energy investment in buds. On the other hand, one does not want to look at wayward stems or spires all winter, so careful selective pruning of these wayward stems will not ruin the display of color in the spring.

For an excellent guide to pruning provided by Clemson Extension, click here.

 

Fertilizing

Generally the later it gets in the fall the less beneficial it is to fertilize. It may still be possible to get one more display of blooms from knock-out roses, and so fertilizing them pretty much in the next week or so could still be a good idea. Generally however, it is not good to stimulate too much growth this time of year prior to freezing temperatures and plant dormancy. Bulbs are an exception to that of course, as are winter annuals.

 

Transplanting

It is best to transplant larger shrubs or smaller trees in late fall after winter dormancy has set in. Some plants are more agreeable to being transplanted than others, and there are techniques to follow. Here in Columbia transplanting can be done even in the dead of winter. I have had success transplanting most shrubs though large camellias and hollies are hard to transplant successfully.

I guess that is enough for now. Please pass along any fall gardening questions you may have and I will answer or find an answer for you pronto.

 

 

Joel Gillespie

[email protected]

gardeningandsuch.com

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