Our friends at The Nursery Council say, “Fall is for Planting” – Trees, Shrubs, Bulbs, Lawns and Flowers. Really? You bet. Fall is one of the best times to plant, if not the best. Why? Many reasons.
First, the soils are warm in fall. Warm soil temps are necessary to encourage new root formation into the planting hole and bare areas to help establish the tree, shrub, lawn or flower. Secondly, air temperatures have dropped off from the 90’s and 100’s of July and August and will encourage new growth for the shoots. Third, in fall, a more regular rainfall pattern is generally the norm, unlike the spring.
Fourth, fall offers the opportunity to replace plants that have been damaged from summer heat and drought, wicked diseases and gregarious insects. Now is a great time to look around the landscape and notice “holes” that need to be filled after pests and adverse weather conditions have caused some to perish. Take the opportunity to add a shrub or two to a grouping, or to create one. If you have a nice, healthy dogwood or viburnum by itself, add two more to make a mass of 3. The impact of the spring flowers will be much more impressive when viewed in mass.
Finally, fall planting offers the advantage of bargains at the garden center. The prospect of obtaining that tree you’ve been wanting becomes a little easier at 25% off the regular price. The only caveat with buying in fall is that the woody plants that are leftovers from spring tend to have developed circling roots in the pot. Take the time to spread them out horizontally if you see them after taking the pot off and examining the roots. If need be, take a linoleum knife and cut through the mass and encourage new ones to form.
Ok, that’s 5 good reasons. Now on to the plants themselves. In the gardening world, some plants are simply bigger than others…not more important, just bigger. This realization is one of the most important components of the Right Plant, Right Place concept, which serves gardening so well.
Since readers like formulas, here are some for trees:
Small trees – 10 to 20 footers – need about 750 sq. ft. feet of rooting space.
Medium sized trees – 20 to 40 footers – need about 1,000 feet sq. ft. of rooting space.
Large sized trees – 40 ft plus – need all the rooting space they can get; usually 1500 to 2000 sq. ft.
So, when considering a tree, step off the area of uninterrupted or pervious surface area that is available. Use the simple length x width formula ie. 20 ft x 50 ft = 1,000 sq. ft, to calculate the area, and voila, that number will tell you if a tree stands a chance of survival and becoming an asset in the landscape. If you’re looking at planting a Kentucky coffeetree and only have 500 sq. ft. of space, think again. Smaller trees such as 7 Sons, pagoda dogwood, shantung maple, serviceberry and Japanese tree lilac would be better suited for a small space…or perhaps even a shrub.
Speaking of shrubs…and flowers…and bulbs, the same space restriction guidelines apply. Since they are smaller, sure, they need rooting space, but the issue of “plants in front of other plants” becomes a consideration as well. It’s really important to read the plant care tag carefully in order to put the taller ones in back, the shorter ones in front and allow adequate space for each one. Turf and groundcovers are the lowest plant masses in the landscape, so keep space requirements in mind for them also. It is generally too late in the fall to plant lawns from seed, but adequate timing remains for sodding.
