Plant
Vegetable Seeds
Beets, carrot, garlic, lettuce, mustard, onion, parsley, radish, Swiss chard, spinach, turnips, herbs
Read: Best Timing for Popular Fall Veggies
Flower Seeds
Alyssum, bluebonnets, dianthus, delphinium, hollyhocks, larkspur, nasturtium, pansies, petunias, phlox, snapdragons, stock, sweet peas, and violas
Read: Success with Fall Flowers
Flower Transplants
All cool season annuals Alyssum, begonias, bluebonnets, calendulas, dianthus, flowering cabbage and kale, geraniums, lobelia, pansies, petunias, phlox, shasta daisy, snapdragons, stock, violas and dusty miller
Garden Guide: Annuals for Fall and Winter
Fall Bulbs
Fall bulbs like paper whites and amaryllis, will make a spectacular show this winter and spring, and now is the time to buy them. Paper whites need to be chilled for 4 to 6 weeks in your refrigerator then planted in pots or in the ground. They can make beautiful gifts for the holidays. Be sure to get a free instruction sheet on their planting and care.
Read: Amaryllis and Paperwhite Narcissus
Herbs
If you’re cooking for the holidays, you can still plant herbs for that “fresh from the garden” flavor. Even if you’re not cooking, they’re still fun to grow.
Read: Tips for Preserving Herbs
All container grown trees and shrubs.
Garden Guide: Planting Trees, Shrubs, and Groundcovers
Read: Burr Oak – an Awesome South Texas Tree
Indoor Plants
- Add foliage plants to your indoors for a fresh look and to help keep air clean.
- Clean indoor plants by removing dust with a damp cloth.
- Check where plants are set so that heater vents will not blow on foliage.
- Stop fertilizing until February to let your indoor plants rest.
Fertilize
Lawns
Fertilize your lawn with organic Medina Growin’ Green or Milorganite
Read: Top Five Tips for Beautiful Fall Lawn, Protect Your Lawn: Recent Take All Root Rot Sightings (TARR)
Roses
We recommend: Organic Maestro Rose Glo
Blooming Annuals and Perennials
Use organic Medina Growin’ Green, Hasta Gro, Maestro Rose Glo, or Plant Tone
Vegetables
We recommend organic Hasta Gro, Maestro Rose Glo, or Plant Tone
Read: How to Keep Your Vegetable Garden Healthy This Fall
All plants that are especially stressed, or recently transplanted
We recommend organic Hasta Gro or Plant Tone
Water
Water your newly planted vegetables and bedding plants regularly, but take care not to overwater with cooler nighttime temperatures.
- Cut back on watering your established plants and lawn as temperatures cool down, since they use less water. If you are unsure when to water, use a moisture meter to take out the guesswork.
Prune
Woody Ornamentals
Your hardy woody ornamentals to shape, not severely, so as not to encourage new tender growth.
Read: To Prune or Not to Prune?
Fall Bloomers
Your fall blooming plants, like asters and mums, that have finished their bloom. Remove spent blooms from annuals, like petunias, snapdragons and dianthus to encourage more bloom.
Watch Out For
Read: What's Bugging You Now?
Watch: How to Collect a Grass Sample
Caterpillars
Caterpillars or their damage (chewed leaves). Spray with organic Thuricide, Dipel Dust, or Spinosad
Read: Oak Tree Caterpillars
Powdery Mildew on Crape Myrtles and Roses
Use organic Fungicide 5 or Neem Oil or conventional Fertilome Broad Spectrum or Fertilome Systemic Fungicide
Fleas and Ticks
Treat lawns with organic Spinosad, or conventional Cyonara
Mosquitoes
Use Mosquito Beater granules to repel and Mosquito Beater liquid to kill.
Note: Please, Please, don’t kill the bees!
They are one of the best sources we have to pollinate our fruits, vegetables, flowers and shrubs.
Read: Best for Bees
Mrs Craig says
When can I prune mulberry trees?
Jesse Jenkins says
Any branches that are causing a hazard, or any light shaping can be done now, in the fall. Don’t use pruning sealer, just use sharp tools, get clean cuts, and let the cuts heal naturally.