Gardeners said goodbye to winter this week when fall officially arrived on Thursday. But the change in season doesn't mean that planting time is over for gardeners who aren't ready to pull out their gardening tools for the winter.
In fact, fall can be the most satisfying time of year to care for your soil for gardeners who hate sunscreen, mosquitoes, and daily hose-hauling.
Shorter days and cooler temperatures present some challenges and limitations to gardeners, but fall has some advantages as a planting time. Some plants are biologically engineered to grow before the cold winter winds hit the Columbus area. Let's look at some plants to plant in the fall, including some benefits and precautions.
Trees and shrubs
Ohio's fall climate generally provides ideal soil temperatures for newly planted trees and shrubs before the ground freezes and more favorable soil moisture conditions in late spring and summer.
Mild temperatures in autumn mean that trees lose moisture through respiration, which reduces the need for soil moisture. Fall-planted trees and shrubs are less susceptible to insects and diseases that occur during the hot, humid spring and summer months.
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Although most trees and shrubs can be planted at any time as long as the ground does not freeze, there are some tree species that grow best when planted in the spring, so be careful when waiting to plant: beech, sassafras, liquidambar, citrus, walnut, white oak, dogwood and Japanese maple. Shrubs such as azalea, rhododendron, hemlock and holly do well even when planted in the spring.
Plants that grow for a long time
In recent years, many nurseries and garden centers have begun to offer a wide variety of herbaceous perennials for sale. In September and October, you can plant only chrysanthemums and star flowers - now you will find many other plants such as echinacea, sedge, black-eyed Sudan, corpuscis, coral bells, mint, yarrow, snow plant, lavender, sage and Russian. And many others. And sodomy! There are dozens of sedums that provide intense color throughout the fall and will be the first plants to emerge on the snow in February or March. Sedums can also be a valuable in-season food source for pollinators.
To maximize root growth before the ground freezes, plant plants as soon as possible in the fall and be sure to water them when the ground dries out during rains.
Flowers annual
Yes, annual flowers bloom in September! If you've grown long-legged geraniums or begonias and marigolds, visit your garden for fresh flowering annuals like celosia, snapdragons, coleus and flowers, which will extend summer color into summer. Up to 6 months. Weeks until the first killing frosts have cleared away are the tips of these vibrant colors of the season.
Cover crops
You don't have to be a farmer to grow cover crops. If you have a garden where you grow warm-season vegetables or annuals that are planted in the winter, you can improve the soil by planting beans or legumes in the winter. Suitable cover crops include buckwheat, oats, winter oats, winter wheat, barley, winter peas, alfalfa, vetch and red vetch, as well as mixtures of these cultures. Most cover crops in Greater Columbus can be planted in early October and winter oats in late October.
Fresh seasonal vegetables
When the harvest of warm-season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants is over, it's not too late to plant fresh vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, radishes, and carrots and beets in season. • Weather.
Some frozen crops have a unique flavor after surviving several light frosts during the growing season. Because plants convert starch into sugar, it's a defense mechanism against the cold, which makes canned carrots even tastier. Crops such as carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, chard and turnips, as well as Swiss chard, taste sweeter after exposure to frost.
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Gardeners can also extend the growing season for cool crops into winter by using one or more layers of fabric to protect plants and create a microclimate for continued growth during the cold fall and winter.
Garlic can be planted in autumn for the next spring harvest.
Spring flower bulbs
Bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils will leaf out and bloom after a long cold spell. They should be planted in cold autumn weather and before the first heavy frost. A few less popular but secretly beautiful fall flower bulbs are planted with colorful bell-shaped annuals or delicate white snowdrops as fillers. Or a wooden saddle, with small, star-shaped flowers in shades of purple, white and pink.
Fall planting is certainly for the patient gardener, but the reward in spring is great.
Mike Hogan is an associate professor and faculty member at The Ohio State University.
hogan.1@osu.edu
This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Planting Guide: Vegetables and Flowers, Trees and Shrubs
