Autumn is almost here, and we’re here to help make the seasonal transition easier for your Edmonton yard with our top fall gardening tips! No matter what your landscape looks like, now’s the perfect time to get it ready for a seasonal wind-down with our fall garden preparation checklist.

Understanding Fall Gardening

Fall is a fantastic season for gardening and offers unique advantages that make it an excellent time to be outdoors. Cooler temperatures reduce plant stress and help your soil better retain moisture, leading to healthier root systems. Additionally, pests are less active in the fall, giving your plants a better chance to thrive.

As gardeners, we can take advantage of this beautiful yet underappreciated season by refreshing our container gardens and planting perennials, bulbs, and even late-season vegetables!

Soil Preparation and Amendments

Fall is the perfect time to ensure your soil is in top condition as part of your Edmonton garden preparation routine. Start by testing your soil’s pH and nutrient levels with a soil test kit from your local garden centre or by sending a sample to a lab for a more detailed analysis. Once you understand your soil’s current state, you can start making the necessary amendments to prepare it for fall planting. Organic matter, such as compost and well rotted manure are fantastic additions to any soil because it improves the soil structure and moisture retention, as well as adding nutrients. If you give your garden the nutrients it needs to thrive, you’ll reap the rewards come harvest time!

Selecting the Right Crops

Choosing the right fall crops makes all the difference in your garden’s success. Some vegetables—such as kale, lettuce, arugula, cilantro, garlic, spinach, and radishes—thrive in cooler temperatures and can be planted in early fall for a late harvest. These hardy vegetables can withstand light frosts and will provide you with fresh produce well into the season. Herbs like mint, parsley, and thyme also do well in fall containers and can be moved indoors as the weather continues to cool. 

Perennials like peonies, hostas, and daylilies are another great choice for fall planting, as they establish strong root systems over the winter and burst into growth in the spring. We also recommend planting bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, and crocuses in the fall for a beautiful display come next spring.

Fall Garden Maintenance and Care

As you prepare your garden for fall, focus on these key maintenance and care tasks to ensure your plants remain healthy throughout the season:

Clean-up: 

Start with a thorough clean-up of your garden beds. You can remove any diseased or large plant material to ensure no garden foes overwinter, but consider leaving some perennial seed heads standing to provide both winter interest as well as overwintering habitat for our beneficial garden friends.

Mulch:

Mulching is crucial for fall gardens. A thick layer of mulch suppresses weeds, insulates plant roots from temperature fluctuations, and helps your soil retain moisture. Organic mulches like straw, shredded leaves, or wood chips are all excellent choices.

Prune:

Trim back your perennials and shrubs in the late fall after leaves have dropped to encourage healthy growth in the spring. Avoid pruning any trees or shrubs that bloom early in the spring, such as lilacs, forsythia or cherries, as pruning them in the fall will result in a dramatic reduction of blooms next season.as cutting them back too much can reduce next year’s flowers.

Water:

Adjust your watering schedule as temperatures start to drop. Water deeply but less frequently, allowing the soil to dry out slightly between watering. We also recommend protecting your tender plants from early frosts by covering them with frost blankets or cloches.

Practical Tips for Urban Gardeners

Urban gardening comes with its own set of challenges, but with a bit of creativity, you can turn even the smallest spaces into thriving gardens. Vertical and container gardening are fantastic ways to maximize space, and we love using trellises, hanging pots, and containers to grow a variety of plants like these fall-loving beauties:

• Virginia Creeper
• Fall mums
• Limelight hydrangea
• Clematis
• Sedum
• Echinacea
• Helenium
• Violas

As sunlight can be a limiting factor in many urban environments during the fall, it is a good idea to keep an eye on how the available light changes in your landscape and choose both your desired crops and location to accommodate this seasonal shift. You can also get creative with reflective surfaces like mirrors or light-coloured walls that can help bounce light into shaded areas, providing more illumination for your plants in any season.

Fall gardening is a rewarding and enjoyable activity that sets the stage for a beautiful and productive garden, and these fall gardening tips are sure to get your landscape ready for another round of vibrant growth. From improving soil health to selecting the right crops and implementing creative urban gardening solutions, there’s plenty to keep you busy and inspired this fall. 

Stop by Salisbury Greenhouse to see what’s blooming and stock up on all your favourite fall plants. No matter the season, we’ve got a plant for that!