Fall brings the promise of cooler weather, the smell of scented candles, and the view of pumpkins on porches. It also means it’s time to get your garden ready for the new season! 

Here are top tips to make the most of your autumn garden:

1. Clean and look for planting gaps

Begin by cleaning your garden. For example, remove dead limbs and cut back diseased perennials. Just don’t remove all dead leaves from beds. Plants and pollinators benefit from the debris. 

Next, look for gaps or places in your garden and landscape that are visually bare. If you have a perennial garden, consider adding annuals to fill in gaps. 

2. Buy contrasting plants

Add some variety to your landscape by purchasing plants with different fall colors and dormancy cycles. For example, plant Red Maples. These trees have red fall colors and defoliate early. 

Mix it up for extra contrast with grasses, shrubs, conifers, and plants that have yellow/orange fall color or defoliate later in the season.

3. Leave seed heads for wildlife

Help pollinators this season! Rather than pruning off spent flowers, leave seed heads on dead plants during fall.

The remaining seeds on plants like Echinacea/Coneflowers are great for wildlife like birds who need a food source.  Also, doing this can create winter interest.

4. Plant hydrangeas for the color and visual interest

Trees offer a gorgeous display of colors, but they aren’t the only beautiful fall plants. Hydrangeas are another excellent choice. You can also leave spent blooms on your hydrangeas, rather than cutting them off, for fall and winter visual interest.

5. Compost your leaves

Want to keep plants warm and healthy this fall and winter? Use fallen leaves as compost. Fallen leaves enrich the soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.

Mow your leaves with a mulching mower and mix them with the summer's grass clippings and kitchen compost. Use one part "green" grass clippings and kitchen scraps, and four parts "brown” or leaves.

Plant for fall

Ready to fill your landscape with beautiful colors? At Green Promise Farms, we have a wonderful selection of fall plants, ready for your autumn garden. Shop all plants in our Fall Planting Collection here.