Is your garden filled with flowers right now or have they been eaten by the rabbits?  Has the hail knocked many of your flowers to the ground or are some of your perennials just overgrown?  Early fall is the time to do some sprucing up so you can still enjoy your garden through October.

Prune your overgrown plants to make them stand up again and give you additional blooms.   This includes Artemisia, Centranthus, Nepeta, and Threadleaf coreopsis.  These are the shrublet type perennials that benefit from a light 1 – 2 inch shearing to tighten them up.

Remove dead stems and spent flower heads to encourage additional blooms through the fall.  These plants include Echinacae, Salvia, Shasta Daisies, Monarda and Veronica.

Trim up your ground covers if they have outgrown their space.  Snow-in-summer, Lysimachia, Ice plant, Thyme and Sedums can benefit from such trimming.

To prepare you plants for the coming winter stop feeding them in September, as they need to rest through the winter months. Also mulch perennials no more than 2 inches high and leave 2 – 3 inches open at the base of your plants to discourage fungus and rot.

Cut your grasses back to within 3 inches of the crown in late November or leave them for them until spring to create winter interest.  Many gardeners love to see the snow on their tall grasses through the winter months.

Water all perennials and grasses planted this year at least twice a month during the winter months.  Their roots have not yet adhered to the soil.  A new perennial will not survive its first winter without water.

Add fall garden color by planting Mums, Asters, Pansies, Kale and Cabbage Russian Sage, Dianthus, Black-eyed Susan, Anemones and Blue Mist Spirea.  A hay bale or two and some pumpkins and gourds will round out a beautiful fall garden. 

For any questions you have on this article, or any topic of concern, email us—or better yet, come by and talk to one of our professional staff members.  Remember, Phelan Gardens is open year-round!    

For additional information, check the following links:

• Fall and Winter Watering
• Fall care of perennials
• Gardening with Perennials - Dividing Perennials