For many of us, summer’s coming to an end. The kids are heading back to school, the weather isn’t quite as hot as it was, and autumn is right around the corner. Traditionally, this meant that the end of gardening season wasn’t far behind and that it would soon be time to put our garden spaces to bed for the winter. And while that’s still a viable option, there are some ways to extend the gardening season into autumn or even year round depending on our local climate and conditions. In today’s blog, we’re going to learn a bit about fall gardening and how we can extend our growing season into the cooler part of the year. Let’s dig in!
Gardzen Executive Summary
· There are plenty of options for fall vegetables and even flowering plants that we can grow in our gardens during the cooler months.
· For ornamental and landscape gardeners, this may be the time to plant bulbs for the spring garden.
· For veggie gardeners, this is a great time for peas and greens of various kinds.
· By using grow tunnels and row covers, we can extend our gardening season and protect plants from cold and light frosts.
· Indoor gardening is an option too, allowing us to keep our gardens going year-round and explore a new approach to having a garden!
Which Plants Grow Best in the Fall?
When we think of gardening plants, we tend to think of ones that thrive in spring and summer. So which plants grow best in the fall? Well, a lot depends on the climate zone in which we live, but for many of us there’s a wide variety of options for an autumn garden.
For our decorative gardens and flower lovers, this is the time when the asters, mums, and autumn crocuses will be in bloom. For many of us it’s not too late to plant some of these, but it may be best to either purchase mature plants for our landscaping or invest in bulbs for spring blooming plants like daffodils and tulips. There may be time to squeeze in a round of something fast growing like pansies, depending on our climate zone and garden.
For the vegetable gardeners among us, fall is actually a great time of the year. Many spring gardening plants that don’t thrive in summer heat can appear again in the fall with enough time for a harvest before winter comes. Snow peas, sugar snap peas, the faster growing bean varietals are all options for a fall garden. These are also nitrogen fixers, which means they help replace nitrogen lost from the soil during the summer growing season and thus add a bit of soil enrichment naturally.
Fall is also a great time for growing greens, and depending on the length of the season and our particular climate zone we have a lot of options there as well. Faster growing greens like spinach, sorrel, and the many types of lettuce are popular choices. They’re relatively easy to plant, container-friendly, and can handle cool weather and shade. They’re also delicious and versatile in the kitchen, which is an added bonus for fall cooking!
Some popular fall veggies and greens can not only handle a light frost but may actually benefit in flavor from it. These famously include collards and kale, two heavier greens that purportedly taste better after the first frost, but also include cabbages, cauliflower, and broccoli. Some readers may have noticed that these are all brassicas, members of the same family about which we’ve written before. In warmer climate zones, these plants can and will grow all year and produce tasty greens the entire time if harvested properly. And for our landscape gardeners: there are ornamental kales and cabbages that add a burst of color to a fall garden and will last well into the cold months!
But what about those of us who have a bit more “winter” to deal with each winter? Or those seeking to extend their growing season in general? Don’t worry, we have some solutions for that too!
How to Extend the Growing Season
There are a number of different options for extending the growing season, and a number of different tools gardeners can use to do it. Let’s take a look and learn a bit more.
The most commonly used tools to extend the growing season are grow tunnels and row covers, which can be employed to help protect plants from cold temperatures and light frosts. There have been many versions of these technologies over the years and they’ve gotten pretty easy to use. They’re also a sustainable solution—whether purchased or DIY, a good row cover or grow tunnel setup should last for years. At the Gardzen Test Gardens in southeastern North Carolina, we typically use these to cover plants at night or on particularly cold days in the spring and fall to extend our growing season. It’s worked well thus far for us as long as we’re diligent about it!
Another option for fall gardening is indoor gardening, and we’re going to be very inclusive in what we mean by “indoors”. Moving plants into a protected space like a sun room, enclosed porch, or garage is an option. As long as they get enough sun, the additional protection from the changing weather can help extend the growing season. Of course plants are always welcome in our living spaces and that’s an option too—indoor gardening is gardening and can be a fun way to keep plants thriving during the fall months and through the winter. It’s also a different approach to gardening that may be fun to explore for those of us with outdoor spaces, so please consider giving indoor gardening a try.
Working with the Seasons
Working with the seasons is always part of gardening. For those of us extending our growing season by planting a fall garden or making use of grow tunnels or row covers, it’s still important to keep an eye on the frost dates and make sure we’re planting at the right times. Fall gardening, indoor gardening, and extending the growing season are still ways of working with nature, and that’s always something to keep in mind in any garden.
With autumn ahead, we hope this inspires you to try a fall garden or try a few new things in your garden this fall. We’d love to see pics and hear all about it, so get in touch in the comments section or via email. Gardzen is all about community and we love to hear from you!
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