The coming of autumn also changes the plant’s needs. It is officially, the best time to take care of flowers. Even now in autumn, your garden can be colorful and lively! As a starting point we should, reduce the frequency of watering and fertilizing the garden. Then, add new plants to cleaned-up flower beds and gardens as well as well as take care of indoor plants.
We peel first climbing plants of any dried stems and yellow leaves and as soon as leaves of both deciduous shrubs (roses, jasmine, voukemvilies etc.) and ornamental trees begin to fall, we prune the plants and spray (at early December) with snow paste. We also take care of the dropped foliage. This is also the season’s end for bulbs as well as the seeds that blossomed during summer. They should be removed from the soil because it is time to plant bulbs and seeds of flowers and vegetables that will flourish in the fall.
Autumn is really the best season for transplanting as soil has sufficient moisture because of recent rains. Soil, in the other hand, is still warm from summer and as well as the sunshine during autumn which seems to be enough to give plants enough time to get used to their new position and form new roots. We usually transplant flower-bearing plants we get from nurseries like violets, pansies, bellas, sweet peas, marigolds, puppies, cloves, Rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, etc..
Autumn is also a good season for planting new plants. This is your last chance before winter to add some color to your garden.
But before any attempt for planting, especially in Mediterranean climates, this season is appropriate for mixing grass as well as generally garden’s soil with a fork or with a small rake so it aerates from the summer heat waves and to facilitate the upcoming rains entrain and the strengthen of the soil before winter. It is also the right season to enrich soil with compost.
It may have been repeated a thousand times already, but now is the time to look ahead and to care for the next crop in the spring and summer. Autumn is also suitable for planting, especially vegetables and bulbs.
We continue the planting of evergreen trees, shrubs, trees as well as conifers and fruit. It is also an ideal planting season for roses, for example, before the first cold and frost, and while mild temperatures continue, it would be wise to pamper plants with short roots as Rhododendrons, azaleas and conifers. If what you want is rapid development, is also necessary to collect the ripe fruits, remove all weak branches, spread some lime and water with plenty of water.
Also important, for the rose, is to remove its leaves with black spots before they contact other healthy leaves. Now is also the time for a good organic fertilizer to rose bushes followed by watering the roots. Also, given that roses are plants particularly sensitive to cold and frost, they should be covered with shrubs or leaves or even wrapped in plastic or some other protective material.
The flower bed is a separate part of the garden which is used usually to grow flowers or other ornamental plants.
First of all, remove all dead tops of flowers, especially when they wither while still on the plant as they can spoil balcony’s or garden’s view. In any case, annual or seasonal plants should not remain longer than the lifetime in the ground or pots and should be weeded out, if possible, even before they start to wither.
Some flowers that grow this season are the chrysanthemum, the pansies and the cyclamen. These, however, unless we have already planted them since spring, we should buy them grown and blooming from a nursery and then transplant them into our pots.
We can still give some color and flavor to our flower beds and gardens by planting sweet peas (put the seeds from the previous night in a wet newspaper and plant them in the morning) and provide them with a trellis to climb. Pepper plants may also be planted for the same reason as now they seem to enjoy cool weather, more than ever.
The proactive gardeners who planted dahlias in July will now see them bloom. Keep watering them as you remove any smaller buds in order to get better results with the older ones. This is a season for grubbing of gladioli and for cutting agapanthus before their heads wither as well as for pruning of hydrangeas, lavenders, geraniums and pelargonium.
Autumn is also the ideal season to take care of the flowers which we are to enjoy in spring. Besides, some of the most beautiful flowers are known to come from bulbs. The bulbs will give us gorgeous flowers when it's their time to bloom, plants like the hyacinths, the daffodils, hoes buttercup, anemones and tulips, and beans.
The right position of plants is vital for these harbingers of spring to thrive and flourish. Most of them love fresh, moist soil in spring, but in summer, during their rest period, soil may be dry and porous. Bulbs when planted in soil should be planted at a depth equal to two to three times their height.
The appropriate depth to plant the crocuses, the irises and the millings is 5 cm and for daffodils and tulips 10 cm, while for hyacinths is 12 cm.
If you do not like your garden looking too made-up, too “frozen” but rather create the impression of a natural one, you may plant bulbs scattered on the lawn. If these bulbs are large and should be planted at some depth, use a bulb dibble. If you are going to plant smaller size bulbs etch a tiny little rectangle in the grass, peel it carefully like lifting a carpet and then insert bulbs in the soil. When this small procedure is over you may reinsert the removed grass into its place.
Fall is ideal for making your own vegetable garden, either in your garden or in pots placed on a terrace, given that you have provided for the right soil.
In your private vegetable garden you can include items such as:
- Radish and spinach: No need to add fertilizer or pesticides as they can grow naturally, without any fear. After planting, be ready for their consumption in as soon as a month.
- Parsley, celery and dill: The recipe is as simple as a few small seeds in small pots at a protected, from rain, section of your balcony. In only a few days, these aromatic plants will be ready to be consumed. For areas with mild winters, rocket, dill, radish, beetroot, radish, and carrots may be planted.
- Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower: These vegetables, if planted now will be ready for consumption by late February as they need the necessary time to develop properly. Keep in mind, however, that these species thrive well in a vegetable garden environment and not at a veranda.
- Strawberry and artichoke plants
It is still a good season for planting leeks, onions, beans, garlic as well as potatoes.
Citrus: We continue to clean the dried dead branches and provided the weather is not rainy, we continue to clean the wounds which we dabble with a concentrated copper solution. The fyllocnistis (insect that gets under the skin of the panel) should not scare us anymore and there would be no need for spraying with pesticides. The insect’s life cycle ends during winter.
Olive Trees: Olive trees at the end of November complete their growing cycle and harvesting of the fruit begins. Right after harvesting, the pruning of trees is appropriate as well as a spray with copper to disinfect the wounds created.
Vineyard: Grapes and vines have also completed their growing cycle after the harvest. Right after harvest the first pruning should be done as well as spraying with copper to disinfect wounds. Fallen leaves and shoots should also be removed, as they are possible outbreaks of infection.
Of course, when there is love for the garden, chores to be done before the first real cold are still numerous because when winter comes, you may take a relaxing break from gardening.
Autumn. Days gradually become shorter and colder. Winter is not far now. So, what is an owner of a garden expected to do in autumn? Well, prepare for the winter, of course!
First thing we do cleaning everything that is left from summer plants and then hoe the gaps of our garden and add, if not done already, compost. If during the previous period we have noticed shortcomings in our plant nutrient (potassium, phosphorus, etc.), the time is right to take along with the compost.
If during hoeing our garden’s gaps we see that the soil have gotten white worms (often found in poorly composted manures) we can bring them to the surface with a bit more persistent hoeing. Winter’s cold weather as well as the birds will see to their elimination. Alternatively we can use a bit of ferrous sulphate which serves as a disinfectant.
It is perhaps the last opportunity for the construction of a sheltered corner so that we could transfer, when needed – because of the lower temperature – some of our more sensitive plants. Alternatively, especially for the balconies, we can use some matting as a windshield. Our plants’ spraying with seaweed extract and propolis, can provide them with the needed strength to best cope with winter’s hardships. Always after extreme weather, a spray with seaweed and propolis helps the plants to return to their normal development.
As a matter of fact, autumn is the right season for pruning lovers. All the summer’s development, in our garden, will now need a bridle which is its pruning and cleaning up. When bushes and shrubs turn yellow, their clones tend to droop down or begin to wither, and it’s time to prune. This happens because plants send their juices back to their roots and if not pruned, they can be destroyed. These species can be pruned to about a quarter of their size. This, however, can vary depending on the bush’s or shrub’s type. Usually you can find additional information, on the plants labels when buying them or to more specialized manuals.
Hedges should be pruned for a last time in autumn, so rotting because of moisture accumulation would be prevented. Prune deciduous hedges only up where you can reach without creating “holes”, because it will not grow back during the winter, and the fence will look naked. Also tree leaves which might have fallen on the fence should be removed because they deprive the fence from fresh air and sun, and this may lead to rotting.
Humidity and low temperatures of winter, as well as the little sunlight affect grass. For this, a little extra care and attention, before cold weather’s arrival, is required. Starting off, autumn leaves which fell on the grass should be wiped off regularly, because they deny light from the grass and this encourages the formation of dry, brown spots as well as the development of moss. Mow your lawn for the last time around the beginning of December. Make sure the grass is not left shorter than 5 cm, as taller grass can better utilize the scarce sunlight. This also ensures greater resistance to weeds and moss.
The use of autumn fertilizer is also recommended. A fertilizer, low in nitrogen but with high potassium levels since large amount of potassium strengthens grass and increases its resistance to frost. Traditional lawn fertilizers should not be used in autumn, as they contain large amounts of nitrogen and accelerate grass’s growth, making it more susceptible to frost.
One of the season’s most frequent questions is what to do with all the foliage which starts covering our garden by early autumn. Simply leave it where it is or arrange for its removal?
As a starting point, the danger of damp leaves, mainly because of the slipperiness, when left on terraces, or paved paths should be noted.
Fallen leaves should also be removed from tender shoots, evergreen plants and from grass as plants may rot due to damp leaves. Further to this, as mentioned before, lack of light also helps the appearance of brown spots on the lawn.
However, fallen foliage is not always undesirable. We can allow, for example, a layer of fallen leaves of up to 10 cm to accumulate beneath the trees, shrubs as well as to cleaned flower beds and vegetable beds. Ideally, dead leaves should be stacked gently using a garden rake and also to be covered with a little soil, so the wind dos not spread them around allowing the decomposition process to accelerate. Following these steps will help fresh, rich humus, to be rapidly formed which will help the plants bloom to all their glory next spring. Flowering shrubs and fruit bearing plants whose leaves rot quickly are best suited for this process known as composting. With this sensible method of using large quantities of dead leaves, the nutrients of leaves and twigs act as ecological fertilizers. A layer of leaves over plants keep them warm and insulated protecting them from low temperatures. Do not, however, forget to remove dead leaves by spring, to allow plants enough fresh air and light.
Another use of fallen leaves and broken branches is their convertion into nests for hedgehogs. Besides the fact that you also contribute to the protection of the animal, nowadays it is threatened with extinction, hedgehogs are very active at dusk and night eating caterpillars, earthworms, spiders and snails protecting your plants.
As we see, autumn leaves are not just waste which fouls our garden and must immediately be removed. Quite the opposite, in fact, with proper use, a lot of money for humus and fertilizers can be saved and even their existence with the cooperation of certain animals like the hedgehog can help to protect your plants.
