Fall Watering & Mulching Tips:

Fall Watering

& Mulching Tips:

Fall is the time when plants devote time and energy to root growth. Normally, fall weather is ideal for root growth: bright, warm days, cool but not-quite-cold nights, and good soaking rains once a week or so. However, the season is infamously erratic, and when we experience an unusually dry fall, there’s simply no getting around it: we must water our plants to help them make the most of the root growing season.

Throughout the landscape, plants are preparing for winter. The days are shorter, signaling that it’s time to drop leaves. Frost zaps many perennials back to the ground. Plants are busy storing sugars and other nutrients in their roots to sustain them through winter.

To support plants through this season of transition, make sure they get adequate water until the ground freezes. This is especially important if the summer season has been hot and dry, and for newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials.

Fall watering isn’t as intensive as summer watering – if your irrigation system has been winterized, just use your hose for a long soak once every two weeks or so, unless you’ve had rain. When you do water, make sure to completely saturate the soil; don't allow water to cover the leaves of the plants, a hose-end sprinkler is a great choice to make sure the job gets done properly. A thorough deep watering twice a month during mid-late fall should be sufficient for most soils, though if you have slow-draining clay or rocky soils, you may need to adjust your watering. Adjust sprayers to keep the spray as close to the root zones of plants as possible.

MULCH is the key to keeping your planting beds able to hold in moisture and moderate soil temperature. Mulch will prevent the freeze/thaw cycle from damaging plants. Mulch is insulation. It helps with dew which is not simply condensation of water from the atmosphere. It is also condensation of moisture from the air pockets found in the soil. Most dew is completely wasted, as far as plant growth is concerned, unless there is something on the surface to catch it and prevent it from evaporating. MULCH!

A fall mulch keeps the autumn soil warmer longer and helps protect plants from the onslaughts of winter. Organic mulches also provide food for earthworms, microbes and other beneficial creatures that live in the soil. Fibrous or woody material such as straw, shredded leaves and bark chips serves as a food source for these carbon-eating fungi and micro-organisms, which, in turn, break down the organic material, thereby improving the soil structure and fertility for the gardening season ahead.

Evergreens, such as yews, junipers, rhododendrons and hollies will thrive if they go into winter well hydrated with mulch for protection.

Flowering trees, shrubs and perennials also tend be more vibrant in spring if they are well watered before winter with mulch to suppress weed growth.

For more information contact your local Extension Office.