Preparing Your Garden For Fall

First start with dividing your perennials. They will show signs that dividing is necessary by reduced flowers or buds getting smaller. You could also see the center of the plant dies out leaving a hole with only growth around the edges.

Fall is the best season of the year for plant propagation, but make sure to always choose a plant that’s healthy and not diseased or wilted. Choose potting soil one of the easiest propagation techniques is propagating using hardwood cuttings.

Hardwood cuttings are taken from deciduous trees and plants (ones

that lose their leaves in winter) when they are dormant, i.e. when they have no leaves. Take cuttings that are close to pencil-thickness from current season’s growth – it will be mature and woody, not soft and green. Cut off any unripened green growth at the tips. Try to take cuttings where the current season’s wood (1 year old wood) joins the two year old wood. The base of the stem at this junction has the greatest potential for root development – it contains a large number of dormant buds that supply hormones required for developing roots.

Take cuttings at leaf fall and just before the buds break.
At the lowest bud at the base make a horizontal cut 6 mm
Near this tip bud, make a sloping cut away from the bud – just about 6mm above the bud. * 6mm (1/4”)
Wound the cutting to encourage rooting. Just scrape off the bark or outer layer to expose the cambium using a clean knife with a sharp edge.
Rooting hormone dip is optional
Insert cutting into clean propagation medium.
Water the soil around the cuttings. The soil should remain damp over the winter – by spring your cutting will have rooted and be ready to plant next autumn.

Plant Propagation by Layering is another technique for Adding More Plants to Your Garden

Stems still attached to their parent plants may form roots where they touch a rooting medium. Severed from the parent plant, the rooted stem becomes a new plant. This method of vegetative propagation, called layering, promotes a high success rate because it prevents the water stress and carbohydrate shortage that plague cuttings.

Some plants layer themselves naturally, but sometimes plant propagators assist the process. Layering may be enhanced by wounding one side of the stem or by bending it very sharply. The rooting medium should always provide aeration and a constant supply of moisture.

Air Layering is another way to propagate certain plants

Air layering is used to propagate some indoor plants with thick stems, or to rejuvenate them when they become leggy. Slit the stem just below a node. Pry the slit open with a toothpick. Surround the wound with wet unmilled sphagnum moss. Wrap plastic or foil around the sphagnum moss and tie in place. When roots pervade the moss, cut the plant off below the root ball.

Some plants that word well with layering: purple and black raspberries, trailing blackberries, hydrangea, forsythia, honeysuckle, spider plant, most vine-type plants (philodendron, grape ivy, devil's ivy, Swedish ivy, etc.) Try Air Layering on plants like dieffenbachia, ficus, rubber plants, and croton.

There are other ways to propagate please check the following links:

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/growing-perennial-flowers/

https://guilford.ces.ncsu.edu/2012/08/fall-is-for-planting-and-dividing-perennials/

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/plant-propagation-by-stem-cuttings-instructions-for-the-home-gardener/

https://gates.ces.ncsu.edu/2014/09/learning-the-art-and-science-of-plant-propagation/

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/plant-propagation-by-layering-instructions-for-the-home-gardener/

Fall is the best time to Plant Spring Bulbs.

Plant your spring bulbs, including tulips and daffodils. Ideally, this should be done by mid-October for best results, and before the ground begins to freeze. Make sure to mark the bulbs for placement now so you don’t disturb them when planting other plants. Try to choose varieties that animals such as squirrels, chipmunks, and voles will not eat. These include hyacinths, Ipheion (starflowers), Leocojum, dutch iris, muscari (grape hyacinth), the narcissus family (daffodils, jonquils, and paperwhites), alliums, etc. Tulips are loved by squirrels so make sure you cage them or spread shell or permaTill. This barrier dramatically reduces vole damage while adding permanent aeration, improved drainage, and nutrient holding capacity to soils. When purchasing bulbs choose ones without mold, bruising, or soft spots. Fertilizing bulbs will not help with this season’s performance, since the bulb already has food stored for the plant, however it will help for the future seasons. Try a slow release when planting.

Here is an additional link to help with planting of Spring Bulbs in the Fall.

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/hints-for-fall-planted-spring-and-early-summer-flowering-bulbs.pdf