This is the season for buying and planting

Fall is for planting.

If you’ve heard the phrase, it means that a marketing initiative by the green industry is working. But it isn’t just a ploy to sell more plants.

Well, it might be a little bit about selling plants. Garden centers don’t want to have to overwinter leftovers, so they often mark down existing stock to get it out the door and into gardens. But it’s also a good time to plant most things.

And the recent rain that Ozaukee County has enjoyed makes right now an optimal time to add and divide plants.

It comes down to roots. A plant can only survive if the roots are healthy, and the perfect conditions for roots to thrive is warm soil temperatures and cooler air temperatures. Because there is less transpiration in cooler temperatures and plants are slowly entering dormancy, less energy is used to keep leaves or flowers healthy, and that energy can be channeled into root growth.

The only thing that roots of establishing plants need at this time is moisture, and Mother Nature has delivered in that regard. It’s not recommended to fertilize fall plantings, however, as that will force plants to expend energy on pushing new foliage. 

In many cases, plants put in the ground in fall and spring of the same year emerge the following spring at similar stages, essentially buying several months of growth.

You can take advantage of these premium fall growing conditions by dividing existing perennials as well. Most perennials do well with fall division, but some, including most ornamental grasses and plants that are actively flowering or haven’t flowered yet, such as monkshood and toad lily, are best divided in spring.

Whether placing new plants or dividing existing ones, cutting back the foliage a bit can be helpful in further reducing stress.

It’s also an excellent time to plant trees and shrubs that can really benefit from fall planting, but it is particularly important to continue watering them — at least an inch of water per week — until the ground is frozen.

Plants that are borderline hardy are generally not good candidates for fall planting because they benefit from extra time to get established before the ground freezes.

Gardeners have a calendar etched in their brain that feeds the urge to plant like crazy in spring, but we’d be better off if we saved some of that energy for a fall surge. Right now it is easier to spot holes in the garden that need filling, and new plants only need tending in the form of watering for a few weeks, instead of a whole summer. If regular rain continues throughout the next several weeks, the job gets even easier.

And there’s a good chance you can pick up those plants for less than they cost in spring. 

Because fall is for planting. And plant sales.