By Mark Packard
There is still plenty of time to plant! We continue to plant until the first week of November and now is a perfect time to plant new plants or transplant existing plants! Fall is also the best time to plant grass. The cool air and warm soil is perfect for getting a new lawn started.
Now is the time to prune ornamental trees, hydrangeas, and overgrown shrubs like forsythia. Do not prune rose of Sharon, rhododendron, or other plants that have already formed buds for next year. Fall pruning will help prevent ice damage and keep your shrubs from getting sparse. I don’t recommend fertilizing in the fall unless you do it early. If you wait too long, you might force new growth that will get killed during the first frost.
Mums and kale are a great way to decorate for fall and add some curb appeal. Mums can take the cold temps and keep flowering right through the fall season. They are considered a hardy annual. That means they will survive in the cold but are not likely to come back next year like a perennial would. When decorating for fall, use straw instead of hay. Hay has weed seed in it and straw does not. After Halloween you can use the straw to put around delicate plants to keep them warm for the winter.