Prepping Your Garden for Fall
Fall has officially made its debut for the year, and the cooler weather is on our doorstep, so you know what that means? It’s time to start prepping your garden for the fall with seasonal blooms - if you haven’t already! I always like to joke that my mind is running two months in advance (this is your official warning that by late October, my little brain will fully be into Christmas mode), so I’ve already gotten my fall blooms from the garden centre, and planted them. Let me take you through everything I do to prep my little balcony garden for the fall season.
Don’t Buy Blooms Too Far in Advance
I know I just said that my mind is always running two months in advance, but the garden centres are the ultimate deciders of when it’s time to start thinking about your fall florals. I try not to buy my mums until it’s been about 2-3 weeks from the time that they originally show up in stores. This may not apply everywhere, but I find the weather can still be quite hot until late September, so I put it off as mums are a cool-to-cold weather plant.
Clean Out Your Beds & Don’t Forget to Water!
Whether it’s in your backyard-in-ground garden, or a planter box on a balcony, it’s important that you clean out your beds to be in good shape for your fall plants of choice. I had daisies growing in my balcony planter boxes this spring & summer, so when I started taking them out of the boxes, I noticed there was tons of roots entangled into the dirt and pebbles (that I always include for drainage!) that needed to be removed before I could plant my new flowers.
Once you get your flowers planted, be sure to give your plants a healthy drink! This applies to flowers being planted at any time of the year, honestly, but it’s always good to have a reminder. I will also remind you, it’s much cooler in the fall than it is in the summer (duh), so you don’t necessarily have to water your mums, or other fall blooms daily. Stick your finger into the soil about 2 inches to see if the soil is dry. If it is, time for a water!
As much as I love gardening in the summer, fall flowers are some of my favourites. Maybe I’m a bit biased because I’m a fall baby so I always enjoyed these flowers around my birthday, but regardless, it makes me so excited that mums (and pumpkins!) are here & they are thriving!
