My fall garden: Colors, combinations, clean-up and new plantings
As autumn settles in here in Zone 5, my garden becomes a rich tapestry of color. Trees and shrubs take center stage, their leaves turning to brilliant red, orange, and gold shades. With their striking scarlet hues, maples are the showstoppers, while the burning bush and sumac add vibrant crimson accents throughout the garden. Smoky copper tones from the mature oak trees introduce a softer, contrasting depth, creating a beautifully layered fall palette. There is much to do in the garden at this time of year!
Perennials and shrub combinations
Amidst this autumn glow, the perennial beds keep their charm alive. Panicle hydrangeas, with their warm pink and later sepia hues, provide a bold backdrop, especially when paired with shrubs turning fiery red. Together, they give the garden a burst of color as it heads toward winter. Adding to the scene, the ornamental grasses sway in the breeze, their feathery seed heads catching the light and bringing texture and movement to the landscape.
Late projects
Fall is the perfect season for tackling those forgotten plantings, last-minute clearance finds, or final garden projects of the year. This year, I extended the shady borders by adding a few shrubs, including two winterberries: Ilex verticillata ‘Red Sprite’, already adorned with bright red berries, and its male pollinator, Ilex verticillata ‘Mr. Poppins’. And I added more lenten roses (Helleborus) on the opposite end of the shady borders, letting them settle naturally into their new home.
In the peony garden, I cleared out the wild bushes along the border with my neighbor, creating a lovely new space for irises, peonies, lilacs, and hydrangeas. At the far end, I noticed the view lacked a defined foreground against the forest backdrop. To address this, I’m planning a new border filled with hostas and daffodils, using the trunk of a fallen poplar as a natural landscape feature to add interest and structure.
Clean-up
While enjoying the autumn splendor of the garden, it’s also time to begin the seasonal clean-up. Fallen leaves are either shredded with the lawn mower or raked up and added to the compost pile—a future treasure for enriching the beds.
Though I understand the benefits of leaving spent foliage on ornamental plants, I prefer cutting everything back in the fall to start with a clean slate for spring. Heavy layers of fallen leaves tend to build up in the borders, which makes it difficult to do any final weeding or to see where I might add new perennials or bulbs. Tidying up in autumn allows me a clear view of each bed, ready for fresh growth and new plantings when the season turns. And is there a saddest thing than to see dead little corpses of annuals lying around all winter long?
I cut back spent perennials but leave the last flowers on and some seed heads for the birds to enjoy, gathering a few for late-season arrangements. Hostas are left until after the first few frosty nights, once their leaves have softened and are easier to remove.
Peonies are a priority for cleaning up; their foliage must be removed and disposed of away from the compost, as any diseased leaves could carry over to spring growth. Some peonies reward with stunning fall color, so I let those linger until they’re ready for one final pruning.
Peonies
Speaking of peonies, fall is also the time to plant bare-root varieties ordered months in advance. This year, nearly 40 new peonies found their place in a large bed prepared in spring, planned just for this addition. A surprise and generous offer of 10 more roots from my friend Kate-Lynn at En Fleurs led to creative rearranging. I tucked them into spaces within existing borders, relocating a few treasured heirloom varieties to make room. And then I had to find room again for divisions of the crowded peonies from the backyard islands. As a result, the peony garden now hosts nearly 450 peony plants!
Each root was carefully planted in a hole at least 18 inches wide and 24 inches deep, filled with well-decomposed compost to ensure a strong start for the coming season. Pointy eyes should be covered by 1-2 inches of soil. This method has served me well over the last eight years—by June, the garden bursts into a heavenly display of blooms!
Peonies can still be planted as long as the ground remains unfrozen. I prepare the planting hole with compost for these late arrivals and add a layer of leaves to retain moisture. I fondly recall a year when peony roots arrived in mid-November, with six inches of snow already blanketing the ground. Thankfully, I had marked each planting spot with little flags in advance! This year, however, September and October graced us with gorgeous weather, allowing me to plant without any challenges.
Fall is the perfect time to prepare for next summer’s blooms. Along with cleaning and weeding, I take this opportunity to apply potash (0-0-50 or 0-0-52), also known as potassium sulfate. This fertilizer supplies essential potassium and sulfur to support healthy plant growth. I add a generous dollop of sheep manure to further enrich the soil and encourage root development.
Later, once the frost has truly set in, hopefully before the snow, I’ll protect my sensitive tree peonies. I use rose or rhododendron cones for the smaller plants, while the larger ones are enveloped in protective coverings to shield them from the cold.
Though I promised my husband that the tenth border would be the final one, how will I resist the beautiful new varieties that are sure to appear in the 2025 peony catalogs?
Bulbs
Planting bulbs is an essential part of my fall routine. I’ve had mixed results with tulips, as our property has its share of critters—squirrels, hares, deer, etc.—that are eager to snack on bulbs or emerging shoots. Last year, I experimented with using granular chicken manure in the planting hole and as a top layer, then reapplying in early spring. This approach resulted in over 90% of my tulips blooming! However, one forgotten patch fell prey to hungry deer, showing how important it is to cover all areas.
Even with these measures, I’ve found that tulips tend to be short-lived here, often diminishing after a few seasons. Allowing the foliage to yellow naturally can help extend their life, but tulips still don’t naturalize well in my garden.
On the other hand, daffodils are reliable-resistant to rodents and deer, they naturalize beautifully, especially in the shadier borders where they add a soft, natural touch. Every year, I add around 150 daffodil bulbs across different areas of the property to brighten the landscape come spring.
I’m also exploring other bulb varieties to bring interest and resilience to the garden. Fritillarias, ornamental alliums, and foxtail lilies have all been rewarding. I’m excited to experiment with Sicilian alliums (Allium siculum, syn. Nectaroscordum siculum), hoping they’ll add a unique touch to next spring’s display.
Dahlias
This year, I planted my dahlias later than planned—June instead of May—but they still rewarded me with an abundance of blooms. The first frost arrived in mid-October, blackening the stems. There’s no need to rush to dig up the dahlia tubers immediately; I usually wait until the soil starts to freeze, prioritizing other pressing garden tasks in the meantime.
Once I’m ready, I carefully lift each plant with a garden fork, trimming the stems down low. I then clean the tuber clumps and prune off any small, soft roots. At this stage, I can choose to divide the tubers, or I store them whole in a cool, dry place until spring.
Conclusion
Fall is just as much about preparation as it is about appreciation, and I love every moment of it. There’s something deeply grounding in putting the garden to rest, knowing that in just a few short months, it will all come to life again.
Discover more from Country Home & Blooms
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
No Comment