I'm On My Soapbox About Fall Planting

Autumn, my favorite time of year in California. Cooler days, beautiful fall colors, harvest time, the sun at a less intense angle in the sky. Here in California, harvest time doesn’t mean putting the garden to bed for winter and retiring indoors to braid garlic and dream about next year. No, fall in California means we harvest the summer vegetables and turn some fresh compost into the beds to prepare them for fall vegetables. It is also a great time to refresh and plant our perennial beds, which often are looking a like bleak after a long hot summer, and add to our larger landscape, especially fruit and ornamental trees.

I know all the pretty flowering plants are out in the spring, enticing you to come and plant, and spring has historically been THE time to get out and get all the gardening done, but fall is really when your transplanting of perennials will be most successful. Shorter days means less stress on plants, with less water needed for plants to stay alive. Soil temperatures remain warm during September and October, and even into November, allowing for rapid root growth. Watering can be much less frequent, and as soon as the winter rains begins watering can stop altogether, often until the following spring.

When the days begin to warm the following spring, top growth begins, new leaves emerge, and root growth progresses at a rapid rate. During the following summer, the larger root system is able to supply more water and nutrients to the plant. The plant is better able to weather the harsh dry summer with less stress. By the following autumn, the plant will be significantly larger than one planted in the spring, in large part to the healthier root system that occurred by being planted in the fall.

Fall planted plants are also less susceptible to certain root rots. Frequent watering to keep plants alive the first year combined with warm summer temperatures can promote soil-borne fungus diseases. Spring planted plants have less extensive root systems and require more irrigation than those planted in the fall. Many California natives and Mediterranean plants are particularly vulnerable to these diseases and fall planting can be especially successful for these plants

When planting some plants, especially California native and drought tolerant perennials that might be prone to rot in the winter, gardeners should amend unusually heavy soil with organic matter and position the crown of the plant slightly above the soil level when planting. Planting common herbs like lavender, sage and rosemary on mounds where clay soil has been amended with compost will help prevent the root systems from rotting.

Nurseries usually have plenty of perennial, shrubs and trees available in the fall, both newly transplanted as well as plants that have been in their pots for quite a while. Many of the older plants, even if they are root bound, just need to be pruned back gently on top, and to have the plant roots scored an inch or two at the bottom and teased apart to stop circling root systems. And nurseries have sales at this time of year, so you can get great deals and get ahead on your gardening as well. At Morningsun we also have our best sale starting this Wednesday, 35% off all plants! As we tell customers when they start to ask if individual plants are on sale, if it has a root, it’s on sale! Yes, that includes all the veggie 6 packs just coming out of the greenhouse!

Gardeners in California are very lucky because we have the ability to grow vegetables year round. Cool season vegetables get a head start by planting from early September through October. Early fall planting combined with warm autumn days and cool nights will produce abundant vegetable crops throughout the fall. Many leafy vegetables, such as kale and spinach, will often continue to produce throughout the winter and into the spring, giving plenty of produce even though the soil is still too wet to dig. Cool season crops produce in the cooler parts of the year and the harvest frequently ends when the weather warms in spring, so the earlier the plant begins producing, the longer the potential harvest can be. These vegetables include cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, spinach, onions, carrots, radishes and other root crops and peas. They do well in our cool fall conditions, and many have even better, sweeter flavor once subjected to the cold nights of December.

It is important to get your plants settled into some lovely new soil, amendments and fertilizer, and perhaps some pretty decorative garden art for you as well, so the first week of our sale we will be offering sales on soils and garden art!

Fall feels good on the body to be out in the garden. Warm days, cool nights, the quality of light in the garden is so lovely, the skies are blue, and the fall colors of the leaves have a certain comfort and familiarity to them. It feels less frantic out in the garden, both for humans and for all the creatures that share our garden space. It is the perfect time to plant and do a little day dreaming of a full and bountiful garden next spring.

This Week’s Project

Just a few of the flowers we have been drying for our wreath making workshops this fall. We are always having to outsmart the deer and gophers, who seem to develop a new taste for flowers that they didn’t have the year before. We have been drying flowers since May, starting with lavender, and as usual will have many fun fresh and dried choices for our classes in November and December. Keep an eye out, classes will be posted in early October.

And don’t forget on Oct 4th from 10 am - 12 pm we will be hosting a very special event at Morningsun Herb Farm: a book signing and floral demonstration with the authors of the new book The Flower Farmers: Inspiration and Advice from Expert Growers. Authors Debra Prinzing and Robin Avni will discuss flower farming and design, and the inspiring growers from around the United States. It will be a relaxing morning in the gardens, complete with tea and cookies.

Open Farm Day on Sept 20th

It’s quiet time in the garden with Leroy my sweet little donkey for this photo, but this Saturday, September 20th, Leroy is hoping to see many visitors coming to see him out at Morningsun Herb Fam from 9 am - 3 pm with a treat for him and his sisters and the chickens. We will be participating in our local Open Farm Day for the Pleasants Valley Ag Association from 9 am - 3 pm, with lots happening at the farm. From 9 am - noon, we will be running our still with lemon verbena, producing lemon verbena hydrosol and perhaps a bit of essential oil. At noon join Rose for a stroll through the garden to look at and taste a few of her favorite herbs for fall. Enjoy a few herbal teas and ‘spa waters’. Visit with some of our other local farmers that will be joining us for the day - Erickson Ranch with jams and jellies, Lockewood Acres with fresh farm produce, Integrity Alpacas with organic fertilizers and alpaca goodies, Crafty Cottage with jams and jellies and Pleasants Valley Fire Safe Council with info on home hardening and fire prevention. We will be just one of four farm stops on Pleasants Valley Road open for the day, please stop by and see what your local farmers are doing! It’s free entrance to come to all of the farms, and there are talks and demonstrations at all of the farms. Check out the PVAA instagram page for more info.