Top 5: Best Fall Gardening Tips you Need to Know!
We have 5 great fall gardening tips from pest control to ensuring your perennials not only survive the winter but come back bigger and better than ever!
Shoo fly don't bother me!
As we enter into the fall season everyone is bringing in their garden-fresh produce and warm weather perennials. With this comes the flies and that leads us into our first two tips.
Pesky Fruit Fly Hack
You may have noticed the appearance of fruit flies in your home. To combat these bugs, here is an easy hack for a fruit fly trap! Fill a small bowl with a few slices of fruit or fruit juice. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke tiny holes in the top (we recommend using a toothpick for this step). Fruit flies will be able to get in the bowl, but they are unable to get out!
Black Aphids Be Gone!
Aphids are a common problem in the early fall months. You will notice plants will begin to wilt or turn yellow if you are experiencing an Aphid problem. We recommend that you do following to control these insects especially before you start bringing in plants for the winter:
Reduce the amount of water you are giving your plants. Aphids enjoy plants that have new growth and soft soil.
Pinch off leaves that have wilted or curled.
Spray a natural ready to use insecticide such as Safer’s End - All. End - All stops the lifecycle of Aphids and other pests.The best part is … this pest control can be used up to the day of harvest! The active ingredient in End -All is Pyrethrins (0.01%) which is an organic compoundmade synthetically but normally derived from the Chrysanthemum flower.
In a short few days, your plants should be Aphid free!
For the love of Potato Vines & other Tubers
Tubers produced from potato vines can be overwintered when placed in a cold dark place. We recommend wrapping them in slightly damp peat moss. It is important to check
them monthly to make sure they do not become too dry. If this occurs, lightly mist them with a spray bottle!
Bulb Perennials
If you have lilies, daffodils, dahlias, tulips or other bulbs it may be tempting to prune all the foliage that has started to turn brown. It is important let them be, as this allows the plant to continue to absorb nutrients and store the energy into the bulbs for next spring!
Insulate! And then insulate some more.
Instead of bagging all of your leaves this fall, prepare your perennial garden with adequate insulation by covering your garden a layer of leaves 4-6 inches thick. When it snows, make sure to pile the snow on top of the leaves you prepared in fall. Snow protects your plants from extreme drops in temperatures. Without adequate snow coverage, -30 or lower can significantly decrease the number of perennials that come back next spring. This is what many people experienced last spring with below average snowfall and a warmer weather mixed with extreme lows.