Wolcott Garden Treasures
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Autumn Checklist
Early-Fall
Keep your lawn green: to keep you lawn looking great as long as possible, we recommend applying Scotts Turf Builder with Winterguard from August to November. Used as your last feeding of the year, it will prepare your lawn for a great spring. If you have problems with moss, poa annua, or chickweed, Super Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer (usually a spring product) will work great to prevent these problems in autumn. Finally, if you're following the Scotts LawnPro 4-step Program, it's time to apply Step 4 Lawn Fertilizer from August to November for fast green up and continuous feeding for up to two months.
Clear away debris from the base of rosebushes: fallen leaves can hold diseases that might overwinter.
Keep watering: give your plants, especially your trees, a good drink. Their roots need plenty of moisture to make it through the upcoming months.
Spruce up your soil: get the ground ready for next year by tilling the soil and adding fertilzer.
Plant shrubs and evergreens: early fall planting gives new plants plenty of time to get their roots established before winter. Early to mid-fall planting is just as good a time as spring to plant, and in some ways, it's even better because the soil is warm (as opposed to springtime when lower layers of soil may still be frozen solid).
Plant fall annuals: as your summer blooms fade, add color to your garden with fall annuals such as mums and ornamental cabbage and kale.
Mid-Fall
Mow properly: while lawn growth has slowed down significantly by mid-fall, your grass still needs to be trimmed. Bring the cutting height of your mower down to keep the grass very short. This will help speed soil drying in the spring. Mowing is also a great alternative to raking and bagging in areas where leaf fall is too heavy to keep up with.
Feed your birds: food sources are becoming scarce this time of year, so your feathered-friends will appreciate your kindness.
Clean up your mulch: remove the leaves and rake up the mulch to prepare plant beds for winter.
Dig up summer bulbs: remember to dig up dahlias and caladium and store them in peat moss for the winter.
Late-Fall
Plant spring bulbs: last chance to get your spring bulbs in the ground before the hard freeze!
Empty hoses, drip irrigation systems & fountains: make sure standing water is completely emptied and store these in a dry place to avoid cracking and splitting during the winter freeze.
Clean up your vegetable beds: clean around your vegetable garden to ensure that pests don't bed there for the winter.
Dig up annuals: if you haven't already, it's time to dig up any annuals you might have planted. This plant matter makes a great addition to your compost heap.
Protect your cold sensitive plants: burlap and shrub bags (we carry both) can be beneficial to evergreen plants that are susceptible to winter damage (needle loss, browning). Many people swear by wrapping broadleaf shrubs such as hydrangeas, but truth be told, it probably won't make much difference. The idea is to protect leaves or needles that stay on the plant throughout the winter. Since broadleaf plants lose their leaves, there's really nothing to protect. Buds are going to respond to changes in temperature whether they're wrapped or not, so burlapping hydrangeas won't likely solve your bud-loss issues.
Take in your garden decorations: statuary should be taken in and kept dry in a basement, garage or shed right around the first hard freeze. It's not so much the temperature that can destroy the masonry, it's the freezing precipitation that will cause cracks. Gazing globes are actually fairly weather safe, but they are very prone to wind damage. Without the cover of deciduous trees, the winter wind can really whip through your landscape and cause your globes to fall and crack. It's a good idea to take those in, too, around the same time as you take in your statuary. Garden stakes are generally pretty winter-proof, but take care not to bend them during plowing and shoveling.
Keep your lawn green: to keep you lawn looking great as long as possible, we recommend applying Scotts Turf Builder with Winterguard from August to November. Used as your last feeding of the year, it will prepare your lawn for a great spring. If you have problems with moss, poa annua, or chickweed, Super Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer (usually a spring product) will work great to prevent these problems in autumn. Finally, if you're following the Scotts LawnPro 4-step Program, it's time to apply Step 4 Lawn Fertilizer from August to November for fast green up and continuous feeding for up to two months.
Clear away debris from the base of rosebushes: fallen leaves can hold diseases that might overwinter.
Keep watering: give your plants, especially your trees, a good drink. Their roots need plenty of moisture to make it through the upcoming months.
Spruce up your soil: get the ground ready for next year by tilling the soil and adding fertilzer.
Plant shrubs and evergreens: early fall planting gives new plants plenty of time to get their roots established before winter. Early to mid-fall planting is just as good a time as spring to plant, and in some ways, it's even better because the soil is warm (as opposed to springtime when lower layers of soil may still be frozen solid).
Plant fall annuals: as your summer blooms fade, add color to your garden with fall annuals such as mums and ornamental cabbage and kale.
Mid-Fall
Mow properly: while lawn growth has slowed down significantly by mid-fall, your grass still needs to be trimmed. Bring the cutting height of your mower down to keep the grass very short. This will help speed soil drying in the spring. Mowing is also a great alternative to raking and bagging in areas where leaf fall is too heavy to keep up with.
Feed your birds: food sources are becoming scarce this time of year, so your feathered-friends will appreciate your kindness.
Clean up your mulch: remove the leaves and rake up the mulch to prepare plant beds for winter.
Dig up summer bulbs: remember to dig up dahlias and caladium and store them in peat moss for the winter.
Late-Fall
Plant spring bulbs: last chance to get your spring bulbs in the ground before the hard freeze!
Empty hoses, drip irrigation systems & fountains: make sure standing water is completely emptied and store these in a dry place to avoid cracking and splitting during the winter freeze.
Clean up your vegetable beds: clean around your vegetable garden to ensure that pests don't bed there for the winter.
Dig up annuals: if you haven't already, it's time to dig up any annuals you might have planted. This plant matter makes a great addition to your compost heap.
Protect your cold sensitive plants: burlap and shrub bags (we carry both) can be beneficial to evergreen plants that are susceptible to winter damage (needle loss, browning). Many people swear by wrapping broadleaf shrubs such as hydrangeas, but truth be told, it probably won't make much difference. The idea is to protect leaves or needles that stay on the plant throughout the winter. Since broadleaf plants lose their leaves, there's really nothing to protect. Buds are going to respond to changes in temperature whether they're wrapped or not, so burlapping hydrangeas won't likely solve your bud-loss issues.
Take in your garden decorations: statuary should be taken in and kept dry in a basement, garage or shed right around the first hard freeze. It's not so much the temperature that can destroy the masonry, it's the freezing precipitation that will cause cracks. Gazing globes are actually fairly weather safe, but they are very prone to wind damage. Without the cover of deciduous trees, the winter wind can really whip through your landscape and cause your globes to fall and crack. It's a good idea to take those in, too, around the same time as you take in your statuary. Garden stakes are generally pretty winter-proof, but take care not to bend them during plowing and shoveling.
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