If you need any help with making the transition and extending your garden throughout the new season, please call or visit Warner’s Nursery; we’d be glad to help.
It’s a time of transition as you enjoy the last few weeks of your summer flowers and start to plant blooms that will love the cooler temps of the coming weeks, such as mums and asters. Hardy pansies and violas that you haven’t seen since spring will make a return appearance as well.
You can also still harvest from your veggie garden, too. Cool season vegetables like arugula, broccoli, spinach, kale, onions and radishes will germinate within 30 days and can stand a light frost. (Your best bet, if growing from seed, is to find out the growth rate and calculate the time needed to grow versus the first expected frost. In the Flagstaff area, that can range from late September to mid-October, depending on what section of town you are in.)
But the stars of your fall planting season are trees, shrubs and bulbs.
Many experts prefer fall planting to spring for trees and shrubs. The biggest benefit is the combination of warm soil and cool air that autumn provides. It’s perfect for stimulating root growth, which means your tree or shrub will be well established before the ground freezes. Rains from the monsoon season also saturate the earth, which encourages deep root growth.
This doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about watering! You should always make sure any newly planted plants get daily watering, regardless of the time of year or rain levels.
Here are some tips for planting your new tree or shrub:
- Dig a hole about twice the width of the root ball of your shrub or tree and equally as deep. (It’s better to plant it a little above ground level than too deep.)
- Amend your soil to make sure it provides your new plant with the nutrients it needs and place that amended soil in the bottom of your hole.
- Water your plant thoroughly before placing it in the ground.
- Remove any wire on the root ball and fold back any burlap so that you expose the trunk and about four inches of soil. You can add some fertilizer tablets, but make sure that they don’t touch the root system of your plant.
- Replace the soil and don’t forget to top it off with some mulch. That will help conserve moisture, prevent weeds and maintain moderate soil temperatures.
- Once your tree or shrub is in the ground, prevent transplant shock and promote root growth by watering thoroughly with a root stimulator.
The other things you should be planting soon are your bulbs for next year. If you want spring tulips, crocuses, hyacinth, irises and daffodils, their bulbs need to get into the ground in late September through October. The cool night temperatures will prevent the bulbs from rotting and the coming winter will guarantee your bulbs get the necessary chill needed to bloom in spring.
Another thing to keep in mind is where you plant your bulbs. They need at least partial sun and well-draining soil. If your soil is mostly clay, amend it with planting mix. When planting, make sure the depth of your hole is about three times the size of the bulb. So large bulbs like tulips or daffodils will need to be about eight inches deep and other, smaller bulbs will be planted about four inches deep. Make sure your bulb’s “nose” (the pointy end) is facing up out of the hole.
We hope you enjoy these last weeks of summer and the coming fall season.
If you need any help with making the transition and extending your garden throughout the new season, please call or visit Warner’s Nursery; we’d be glad to help.
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.
