Fall Clean Up Tips for the Madison Area

If you haven't signed up for fall clean up services, it's time to dust off your rake. Other than removing all the leaves, what else should be on your checklist?

1. Winterize your lawn - Think of skipping this step as like sending a bear into hibernation without any stored fat! I'll discuss more on this next month.
2. Watering shouldn't stop. If you have recently planted or potted plants, continue to water them. The easiest rule of thumb here is to water until you have to shut off the spigot for the winter.
3. As mentioned in previous posts Thatch & Aerate. 
4. Cut back and divide. Fall is a great time to tackle division of grasses, hosta, day lily, and other overcrowded plants.
5. Lower your mowing deck again for a slightly lower cut.
6. There's still time for fall planting as well.

5 Quick Tips About Fall Planting in Dane County

"Fall is for Planting" isn't just a marketing slogan. In fact, marketing and impatience is why most consumers complete planting in spring. Fall planting is the best way to get the highest rate of return on your investment as possible. Temperatures are mild, which mean woody plants and perennials will root faster. The typical droughts of August have passed and the cool nights of fall mean turf will establish quickly as well.

Follow these tips for fall plantings success:

1. Whenever possible buy flats or in larger groups. Nurseries and Greenhouses do not want to carry the remaining stock over the winter. The more you buy, the more you save. Look through their inventory and consider completing borders and mass plantings with remaining plant stock. 
2. Check the roots. When choosing perennials and smaller shrubs, pop the pot off and take a look at the roots. Often, staff has been cut down at this point and plant stock may not have been potted up. Fall sales might specifically include root bound plants as it is cheaper to discount them than it is to pot up a size this late in the year. 
3. Have a lot of trees to plant? Consider bare root. We've planted hundreds of bare root trees for long term privacy screens, shade, or wind screens. If you are not in a race to get the largest tree possible, Check online catalogs with excellent customer reviews. Soak them in water for 24 hours as soon as they arrive and then plant away.
4. Pick the plants who have current interest. We tend to shop on impulse and by sections of the yard we are trying to improve. I typically recommend clients complete tasks one a time rather than improving specific areas. Why spend money on a bed edger 5 times? Put in all your beds at once even if you won't plant them all right away. Pay attention to seasonality by shopping for only plants that have current seasonal interest. By only spring flowering plants in spring and buy plants with fall interest in fall.
5. It's ok to go small. Save more money by choosing smaller plants in fall. As mentioned, the larger plants may be root bound anyway. Since you are planting in fall, you wont have water, nutrient and other competition issues with weeds. Most the weed seeds are now dormant and shouldn't be a factor. By the time they are competing with your smaller plant selections, it will already be established and adapted to its new habitat.

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