The best autumn tasks for spring gardens ever

The beauty of spring begins in autumn. See what you can now do to give your garden a jump start for the upcoming season.

Also, make sure to get a free, printable autumn gardening checklist for more ways to prepare your autumn garden for winter and spring.

Autumn spring begins

Autumn is a strange time in the garden, offering both an ending and a new beginning. The big summer shows are caught up, but as the dark and cool weather begins, there are plenty of opportunities to plant and sow new plants, plant vegetables, and prepare for spring.

The top item on your task list is to always protect anything that winter can destroy, such as patio furniture, garden art, and soft perennials. Freefall Garden Checklists can help you prioritize these tasks.

Next, take advantage of the season to finish the job of giving your spring garden a jump start. I provided some ideas below.

But first, these are some tools that make the job easier.

One item I use most? Kangaroo bag. It’s very convenient for collecting debris when I work, and the smooth plastic base makes it easy to pull through the garden (no heavy lifting).

Well, I’m happy that spring is here.

1Dividing and transplanting

Autumn is the time to split mature, early flowering perennials and transplant them into other parts of your garden. If you move it right now, you won’t miss the spring flowers.

Use a shovel or, in addition, use the implanted spade (pictured above). They do a great job of digging deeper roots, narrower and longer than shovels.

Timing tips

There are always exceptions to the rules, but for most plants it is:

If it blooms in spring or summer, split it into fall and transplant it. If it blooms in autumn, split or transplant in spring or summer.

The idea is to leave the plants alone when they are sprouting or blooming so that you can enjoy the flowers and fruits. But if you are out of schedule, the yard police won’t come after you. That means you may forget to bloom for a season.

Examples of plants for splitting and transplanting in autumn include peonies and astilbes. Ideally, you’ll spend six weeks of the first frost to ensure that the roots settle before the ground freezes.

2Save soft perennials for next year

Many of our favorite plants are soft perennials that require extra care to survive the winter months. This list includes some bulbs, tubers, corms, soft herbs including zone geranium (pelargonium), begonia and rosemary.

Here is a complete guide to debugging and bringing soft plants indoors.

Aim for when indoor and outdoor temperatures match as closely as possible.

a) Flower and Leaf Plant

Many of these plants can be propagated indoors as houseplants (if you have the right light and room), or they can be wintered in semi-dirt through the spring.

Begonia
-tuberous begonias requires winter dormancy.
-Cane-Type Begonias and Rex Begonias can be treated as houseplants. Cherry Pipe Plant Heliotrope Coles Solenostemon (Painted Nettle) | Easy to root in water. Fuchsia | Store indoors in a cool, dark place. Flowering Maple Abtyrone Hibiscus Impatience Lantana Family Zone Geranium Pelargonium x Hortorum | Find out about the various wintering methods here.

b) Herbs

Soft herbs can be transferred to lifespan indoors under glow light. Migrate indoors (as mentioned above) or stay semi-dormant at 45-55 degrees with artificial lighting.

For more information, see How to grow herbs indoors. Here we will go into detail about what herbs can do their best indoors and challenge themselves to grow.

Bay Chive Oregano Parsley Rosemary

c) Light bulbs, tubers, and balls

If you live in a cold climate, you should remove soft bulbs, tubers and corms from the ground with winter temperatures below freezing and store them in a cool, dry, dark place until spring.

These include Dahlias, Eucomis, Cannas, Gladioli, Tigridia, Galtonia, and more.

3Sowing seeds and plant bulbs

Autumn is the time to grow and so dress! There are several opportunities for cool weather.

a) Rapid-growing vegetables are ideal for autumn growth.

You can harvest rapidly growing plant crops after just 4-6 weeks, or continue to grow during the winter with proper weather protection. Options include lush greens, beets, kale, spinach and more. These plants do not produce fruits and can be harvested at any time.

b) Sow the seeds of flowers that benefit from the cold winter before they germinate in spring.

c) Plant garlic and spring and summer flower bulbs.

d) Sowing crops.

4Garden bed cleanup and spring preparation

When I go on a trip, I love to keep my house clean and tidy, so when I get home it’s nice.

We tend to have the same impulse to “clean” our garden in autumn before winter begins. But it’s not the best thing in nature.

Yes, protect your furniture, tools and decorations, but “confuse” your garden.

These old plants, seed heads, leaves and stems are all not just winter shelters for insects, birds and other wildlife. They are home to pollinators and other creatures that continue to run through nature. When they use “disruption” to break it down, they will return valuable nutrients to your soil, promoting growth next year. And, as we know, it’s not an exaggeration that it won’t survive without them.

One good job to do is to prepare a garden bed to use for early vegetable sowing. In this way, you can put those seeds into the ground at the right moment in spring.

It’s hard to find here at the end of winter, so I like to buy the potting mix I need for autumn.

5Clean up your tools and garden containers

This is a good job on a rainy autumn day. Get the tools and supplies in order.

For tools, if you have blades, nuts, bolts, screws, or chains, maintenance is required to maintain maximum condition. Here we have more tips for tool care.

Washing, drying, repairing, oiling and shaving garden tools. Store in a cool, dry place and everything is set in spring. Beautiful garden pots and containers. Empty, wash, bleach (4 tablespoons bleach per quart or water bleach for at least 1 minute), rinse, dry and store for winter. Order the seeds you need. Clean the shed.

There! Now things are in good shape for spring.

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~Melissa Empress of the Defiled