While most of us associate gardening and outdoor maintenance with spring time, there are lots of outdoor projects that can be completed in the fall to give you a head start on the next year.
Bulbs
Fall is a great time to plant bulbs in the garden, especially early bloomers like daffodils, tulips and snowdrops. Planting in early fall gives time for the roots to spread beneath the ground and establish the plant before the frost hits. You won’t see a lot of growth above ground, but the extra time will give the plants the ability to establish a solid foundation
Plants
You can also plant many other perennial plants in the fall. You can get great end of season sales at garden centres to let you get more bang for your buck if you’re working within a budget. Plus, compared to springtime planting, you’re generally safe from intense heatwaves which can quickly decimate new plants.
It’s also worth taking time to assess your gardens to see if any existing plants should be relocated. If you’re rethinking your overall garden design or maybe just relocating certain plants that didn’t thrive as expected, you still have time to move them around and let them establish a root system in the new location before the frost hits.
Lawns
Give your lawn some love coming into the cold weather. Dethatching and fertilizing will help set you up for a thick and lush green lawn the following year by allowing moisture and nutrients to get all the way down to the roots. Use a hard rake and drag over the grass to break up the dead material between the grass and the soil.
After dethatching, fertilize your lawn to help strengthen the roots and provide nutrients for the winter months to come. This needs to be done in early fall before the grass stops growing so that it has time to absorb the nutrients which will also give it a jump start when the weather starts warming up in spring.
If you have bare spots or patchy grass, fall is also a great time to seed your lawn so that the new grass has time to establish itself.