Gardening Tasks for Fall

Preparing the Fall Garden

Preparing your herb garden for Fall is easy to do and very important to the overall herb garden health. The fall is the time that some wildlife is starting to look for more abundant food that the wild has to offer. Your garden is going to be very appealing-even if otherwise undisturbed so far this year. It is important to harvest your herbs as they become available. Make sure that any fencing you have up is still in good shape and able to repel wildlife.

Fall Herb Garden Care

You can stop pinching back at this time. This will allow the plant to send some energy into the roots if the herb is a perennial. A perennial herb needs to store some energy in the roots in order to survive the long winter. If you grow mostly annuals and are planning on keeping seeds to replant your them, you will need to allow the plant to finish its growing cycle by flowering and making seeds.

Frost Protection For Herbs

Fall also can bring sudden changes in temperature. Just because there is a freezing temperature in the forecast, the herbs can still be protected using sheets or plastic to cover them for the night. Once the sun hits the plants again, they will be safe from the previous frost, even if the temperature is slow to warm.

My Garden Notebook In Fall

Your herbal garden notebook should be filled with your growing successes and failures from the season. Make copious notes about how the garden was laid out, what herbs you liked the taste of, which ones you need to plant more of and most of all, where your perennial plants are located! You will avoid any growing surprises next spring!

Fall is a time for clean up, organizing and making notes about that year's garden. Soon you will be drinking herbal tea as the snow flies and you can look back at the productive growing season to remember your accomplishments!