#Fallisforplanting Perennials Plus Tomato, Bacon & Basil Tart ?

Fall is a great time to add perennials to your Victory Garden 2.0!

Fall may be a better time to plant perennials than spring. Like spring, fall has cooler, rainier weather that is more conducive to helping plants establish. Unlike spring, fall doesn’t subject freshly planted perennials to the stress of summer heat and the dry spells this can cause.

Here are a few other points to consider if you’re on the fence about fall planting…

Take Time to Evaluate your Fall Landscape

Fall is an excellent time to assess your garden. It is the conclusion of a full season watching your garden perform and when plants are freshest in your mind. Compared with spring, everything is at its mature size. This makes it easy for you to see bare spaces or estimate the precise size of something you plan to replace.

Great Time to Shop for Perennials

Is there a bad time for plant shopping? When you are picking up your mums or ornamental kale, pop over to the perennials department and see what is looking good. How the plant looks in the garden center in fall is usually a good representation of what it will look like every fall. Watch for perennials still in flower or showing a particularly vibrant leaf color.

Tips to Being a Successful Fall Perennial Planter

1. Plant 6 Weeks before the Ground Freezes.

Once frost hits perennials start to go dormant, transferring energy into their roots for the following year. Giving your freshly planted perennials a period to get established in their new home will increase overwintering success. Look up your freeze/frost dates with this helpful tool.

2. Choose plants that are hardy, avoiding plants that are less hardy than your zone.

If you live in a zone 4, but can get away with growing perennials that are only hardy to zone 5 – this is not the best time to plant. These perennials need a full growing season for the best chance to overwinter, particularly as a young plant. In fact, it is safest to plant perennials that are one zone hardier than yours (planting a zone 3 perennial if you live in zone 4). Generally, your local garden center will only carry perennials hardy to your area, but online retailers may ship to you anyway. Unsure what your zone is? Look it up here.

3. Don’t worry about new growth.

You probably won’t see many new shoots or flowers, but that’s ok! You’re planting this perennial for next year. What you can’t see above the soil is happening below with fine root development.

4. Wait until after a few good hard frosts before cutting them back.

The nutrients stored in the stems and leaves need time to travel into the roots for winter. Removing the top growth too early denies the plant the kick start it needs to get going in the spring. Unsure if it’s too early to cut back? Leave it till spring!

5. Do NOT fertilize.

The slow-release fertilizer included in their nursery pot and held in the rootball is more than enough to get them to winter. Too much nutrition can have adverse effects on the plant and interfere with their transition to dormancy.

6. Provide winter protection.

Mulching with wood chips or leaf litter is a good way to protect the crown of the plant from cold damage in winter.

Chlorotic is a yellowing of leaf tissue due to a lack of chlorophyll. Possible causes of chlorotic leaves include poor drainage, damaged roots, compacted roots, high alkalinity, and nutrient deficiencies in the plant.