Our annual Fall Festival is back on after being on a pandemic hiatus the past two years.
First, let’s talk about how you can extend your garden’s season and start planning for next year.
Right now, with the temperatures cooling down and all the wonderful monsoon moisture we’ve had this year, it’s a particularly good time to plant trees and shrubs.
Many people don’t realize that because soil temperature is much warmer now than in the spring, the roots of trees have an easier time getting acclimated and there’s less of a chance of “transplant shock.” Meanwhile, the cooler above-ground temperatures mean less stress on the tree overall.
Now, let’s look at your garden bed. Do you have blooms for fall? Often, people load up on their plants in the spring, which means they have amazing color and variety in the spring and early summer, but almost nothing for the rest of the year.
Extend your garden’s life by investing in some of the plants that are perfect for fall – mums, asters and pansies – which make a comeback in the fall and are particularly hardy. Early autumn snow in the forecast? Pansies don’t even flinch.
Before we get those first frosts, however, there’s another piece of gardening you need to do – getting those spring-blooming bulbs into the ground. If you want irises, tulips, daffodils and crocuses next spring, you need to get them planted by the end of September or early October.
Planting bulbs is inexpensive and easy, and they will be that first burst of beauty and color you get to enjoy next spring.
If you need help choosing some plants to fill out your garden for the fall, we can help. Grab your smartphone, take a picture of your garden and come by Warner’s Nursery. We can help you find something that will look great and flourish in your garden’s “bare spots” and help you get a head start on next year’s blooms.
Here are a few other tips for keeping your garden going strong during the fall:
- Refresh your container gardens. Often, you just need a new plant or two to give your container garden a lift. Take out the spent plants and replace them with late bloomers like mums, salvia and snapdragons.
- Deadhead perennials. Many perennials will continue blooming well into fall, but need to be deadheaded in order to re-bloom.
- Get your weeds under control. If you let them be, they will re-seed and you will have twice as many to contend with next spring. With all the wildfires we’ve had in recent years, it’s just good sense to keep up with your weeding and not provide any additional fuel for fires.
Now, let’s chat about celebrating fall and the harvest season.
There’s nothing like fall in Flagstaff, with beautiful hikes and trees turning colors. And perhaps after this spring’s wildfires, we’ll look at Lockett’s Meadow and the aspen groves of the Inner Basin with far more appreciation.
But there are also plenty of events to enjoy with your family, from the Festival of Science to Pickin’ in the Pines to Oktoberfest.
We even have a few here at Warner’s Nursery.
Our annual Fall Festival is back on after being on a pandemic hiatus the past two years. It will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15. We’ll have our hay maze, pumpkin patch, a kiddie caboose, balloon artists, face painters, fun activities and refreshments.
And, as we do every year, we’ll be celebrating Halloween not once, but twice. We always host a costume contest on the Saturday before Halloween and then have trick-or-treating in the late afternoon of the holiday itself. Please come out and celebrate fall with us at these events.
We hope you are enjoying the end of summer and looking forward to a beautiful autumn!
Happy gardening! FBN
By Misti Warner-Andersen
Misti Warner-Andersen is the manager of Warner’s Nursery & Landscape Co., located at 1101 E. Butler Ave. in Flagstaff. To contact Warner’s Nursery, call 928-774-1983.