Garden Center at Portage (Kalamazoo) #2728

Fall is a different time for your garden and yard, so get out your work gloves. The focus shifts from growing to harvesting, from upkeep to cleanup. We've got fall yard prep and fall lawn tips to help you make the most of your garden and landscaping as the season ends. We'll also guide you through planting and fall harvest. Depending on your climate, you might be able to garden throughout the chillier months, too. Read on for more on fall lawn and garden maintenance.

Patch or Fertilize Your Lawn
Patch bald spots on your lawn by overseeding them. Autumn is a great time to fill in dead, brown, or bare places in your yard. However, make sure leaves don't fall on freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs sun, air, and water to grow, and leaf litter can block out the air and sunlight it needs to germinate.

If your lawn is in good shape, make sure it stays that way by applying lawn fertilizer if you have cool-season grass. Aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer to get those nutrients down near the roots right off the bat. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any weeds that show up. Warm-season varieties, like those in the southern states, are winding down their growth for the year. It's better not to fertilize it now, as you don't want fresh grass growing right before it goes dormant. Taper down watering on warm-season lawns.

Plant Flower Bulbs
If you've got your eye on spring-blooming bulb plants, get those planted soon. They need time to grow downward. Check your plant hardiness zone before planting. In colder climates, certain bulb plants should be planted in spring instead. Find ideas for spring flowering bulbs and plan your tulip, iris, and daffodil displays now. Onions and garlic can also go in for a harvest next spring or summer, but they won't need soil additives.

Skip the soil amendments when planting onion or garlic bulbs instead of flower bulbs. Simply plant them now, pointy-side up, and you'll have a fresh harvest by next summer. These plants will spread though, so be careful not to let them flower, dry out, and go to seed after they mature. Snip off the dried flowers to avoid planting a patch of volunteer onion and garlic plants.

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap and then warm up above freezing, cover your plants. Protect your garden from frost and freeze damage to extend their season. You can get extra life out of your garden by covering your plants with tarps, 5-gallon buckets, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse or blanket, and they'll survive a frost. Read other fall-planted perennial tips, too.

This works well when the weather is still transitional, until you're fully into the colder parts of the season. Uncover the plants when the thermometer goes up again and let them enjoy that fall sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, say goodbye to the garden for now.

Put the Garden to Bed
When your annuals start looking rougher, dig up the plants. Northern climates that get cold earlier in the fall might be putting the garden to bed for the season in October or November. After your vegetable plants have given their final harvest, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the dead plant debris. Feel free to let them decay to enrich the soil unless you had one of two exceptions: if your plants dealt with disease or if you had a slug problem.

After you've removed the old plants, you've got a clean slate. Prepare your garden bed for the spring by rotating the soil with a rototiller or shovel. You want to bring the deeper soil to the surface, send the topsoil lower down, and generally break up the ground. It helps nutrients penetrate and lets the soil rest. It's also an excellent opportunity to test the soil and see what, if any, soil amendments you need. Different crops and plants use different nutrients. Test your soil to see if it's balanced or if you need to add certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Indoor Gardening
Gardeners with potted plants can extend their growing season by bringing the plants indoors to a sunny window. Indoor gardening allows both outdoor plants to live longer and indoor plants to bring joy into your home. Just make sure they get enough water, and rotate them regularly to give all those leaves equal sunlight for photosynthesis. If the pots don't have built-in overflow dishes, be sure to add shallow bowls beneath them to catch any extra water.

Warm the Outdoors with an Outdoor Fireplace
Stretch out your fall evenings with a patio heater, fire pit, or outdoor fireplace to take off the chill. No matter if you're looking for outdoor heaters for decks, small patios, or cozy porches, we've got options. All you have to do is find the one that matches your decor style.

When you're curious about how to choose or build an outdoor fireplace, we have the supplies you need. Bricks, mortar, a wheelbarrow, trowels, and more — let us help you get this fall project done. If you'd love some extra heat but rather not install a fire pit or fireplace, we also have patio heaters, including gas, propane, and electric models.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, shore up your lawn and garden for the season with us. We've got everything you need for putting the garden to bed, leaf cleanup, and restoring nutrients to your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of outdoor living products and fall garden care in our mobile app, online, or in the aisles of your Portage (Kalamazoo) store.