Let the Garden be your guide for fall planting and a beautiful spring

Summer may be almost over, but in the garden it’s time to plan for spring.

Let your mind move swiftly past the winter months to imagine and consider the thaw, spring blooms and a new-again, better-than-ever garden or landscape.

Now take some time to walk the grounds with an eye for what needs to be done before winter and think about what you have, what you need or maybe what you’ve always wanted.

It’s time to stop pruning. It’s time to stop fertilizing. This is the time to plant, said Chelsea Mahaffey, manager, Kemper Center Programs and Landscapes at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

“Spring and fall are beautiful times to plant,” she said. “The soil is nice and warm and we’re still getting some rain.”

“What new tree do you want to put in your neighborhood? What new shrub do you want to add to your foundation planting? Now is a good time to go to the nursery, browse around to see what is looking good, and what you really want to add to your landscape,” Mahaffey said.

The time is perfect for planting trees, she said.

Any time after Sept. 15, it’s time to start getting plants in the ground, she said. “The soil is still warm and there are cooler temperatures which is nice for us.”

The important thing about trees and all plants, really, is you want to put “the right plant in the right place,” Mahaffey said.

Considering how big a tree is going to be at maturity is an important part of choosing one. Does the space you’re looking to fill have room, or will a smaller tree be a better choice?

“The question is ‘What do I want this plant to do?’ Mahaffey said.

The answer might be shade; it could be bloom or bear fruit.

“The nursery crew can direct you,” Mahaffey said. “They know what’s new and trendy and all the great cultivars that are coming up.”

Trees native to Missouri are always a good choice, she said, because they are easier to grow and provide food and shelter for native creatures.

“It’s good to include our properties in the local ecosystem. Native trees and plants create habitat for small animals and other critters. They are hosts for butterflies and moths. And it’s much easier to establish native plants because they are acclimated to the soil, local temperatures and typical rainfall,” Mahaffey said.

She offered some good choices for large, medium and smaller trees.

“An oak creates a great opportunity to increase species diversity,” Mahaffey said. “I would suggest a good oak of your choice.”

A sugar maple with its beautiful fall color is a good medium to large tree. As for a smaller tree, an American hornbeam is a slow growing tree with beautiful bark, she said. “A great understory tree is the fringe tree which has great smelling flowers that make the tree look like it’s covered with snow in the summer.”

As far as shrubs are concerned, she suggested a buttonbush, with its dark-green leaves and distinctive spherical flowers or the possumhaw, a type of holly that has beautiful berries. Both support wildlife.

There are however, thousands of trees, shrubs and plants that could be a nice fit for your landscape. The Missouri Botanical Garden has a plant finder with profiles of 7,000 plants for gardeners to peruse. From Missouribotanicalgarden.org, choose “Gardens & Gardening” from the menu and then “Your Garden”. The resource is just one of the many informational tools for home gardeners available at the site that include topics like edible gardening, lawn and landscape design, gardening advice, tips and resources and information on classes to take.

While you’re there, look up some of your favorite spring bulbs. Every spring, gardeners look forward to each successive wave of flowers from the earliest snowdrops and crocus to hyacinth, jonquils and tulips. Now is the time to add to your collection and get planting. And maybe some of those adds can be spring bulbs you’ve never tried before.

Mahaffey had a few favorites that could add a new dimension to your spring blooms.

“When I’m thinking of fun bulbs, I think of flowering onion alliums because they are beautiful, and they are so much fun. They look like they were pulled directly from a Dr. Suess book. Little popsicle globes in white, pink and purple. I’ve seen them two feet to two inches across. There is something for everyone, and because they are in the onion family they are pretty pest resistant,” she said.

Fritillaria is another bulb she suggested. The purple bell-shaped flowers sometimes called snakehead fritillaria have a pattern that resembles snake skin. The bells wave in the breeze, and the long leaves add to their charm. The plants, like the allium, can perennialize and come back year after year, Mahaffey said.

Both bulbs are usually available in the seed catalogs, she said.

In addition, it is time to divide garden perennials. Perennials usually need to be divided every three to five years, she said. Irises, daylilies, ornamental grasses among other plants will often show signs that it’s time to divide them by dying in the center, getting overcrowded or just not doing as well where they are, she said.

“Take your time. You don’t have to divide the whole garden,” Mahaffey said. “Take a section of the garden each year.”

Perhaps most importantly, take notes Mahaffey said.

“Record what you did, so you can remember what you dug up and divided and where you put them,” she said.

Planning and planting in the fall, “is like planning for the day ahead before you go to bed at night. If you plan ahead before putting your garden to bed, you’re going to have a much better spring.”