It's best to avoid fertilizing evergreens during the fall, because it can encourage them to put out a new flush of growth right before the weather get cold. This new growth is more sensitive and can be prone to winter burn. Additionally, most evergreens are naturally slowing down at this time of year, even if they don't go fully dormant like deciduous plants.
It's best to avoid pruning your evergreens in the fall, because the additional foliage can help protect them from winter cold damage. You can always remove dead or broken branches, but save hard pruning for another time of year.
Fall rarely has the ideal environmental conditions for weed sprays, but it can be a good time if the right environmental conditions are met. The best conditions for most herbicides are between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, when it is not rainy or windy, when plants are actively growing, and when there is not dew or excessive moisture.
In a majority of cases, herbicides are not necessary for weed control if a garden receives consistent upkeep. A pre-emergent is a type of herbicide that prevent weed seeds from germinating. Always choose the right herbicide for your application, pay attention to where you spray, and always follow packaging directions. With herbicide, more is not always better, and in many cases over-applying can cause a weed's foliage to wither so fast that the herbicide is not translocated into the root system by the plant. This makes it easier for the weed to come back after the spray, among other environmental and health risks.
Fall is a crucial time for watering your plants, especially larger evergreen shrubs - doubly so if if they have been newly planted. Fall is often very dry in our area, and it precedes the winter where plants may get even less water. Your evergreen shrubs don't go dormant like so many other plants, which means they can lose a lot of moisture from their foliage during dry and windy winter conditions.
Fall is a perfect time to give them a boost of water reserves, so continue your watering schedule right up until the ground freezes.
While evergreens don't lose all their foliage for the winter like deciduous plants, many do go through a phase called "needle shedding" in the fall. Evergreen conifers in particular, like spruces, pines, and arborvitae, will drop their oldest needles at this time of year. This process will generally take a few weeks, and if you haven't noticed it before, it can look alarming. Needle shedding is perfectly natural though and helps the trees and shrubs to devote their resources to their newest, healthiest foliage. If you're concerned that the browning on your evergreen conifer, keep an eye on exactly where it's browning. During needle-shedding, it's the innermost needles that will turn brown and fall. If you see the outer needles browning or some other pattern, it's likely there is a different cause.
Fall is not the typical time for new mulch installation, but it can be a good time to "fluff" your mulch if you use bark mulch and get the color looking more vibrant again. One exception is if you have a newly installed a garden bed, in which case you should always add mulch after planting. If you have perennial plants that are not reliably hardy in this growing zone, it can be beneficial to create an extra thick layer of mulch over them during the fall to insulate their root structure through the winter.
Mulch serves numerous purposes in the landscape - preserving soil moisture, keeping soil temperatures from reaching extreme highs and lows in the root zone, adding nutrients to the soil and improving soil texture as it breaks down, preventing soil erosion, inhibiting weed growth, and enhancing the look of the garden.
There are many types of mulch materials available for residential gardens, but by far the most common are bark mulches. Some of the other options and variations you may see are wood chips, synthetically dyed bark mulches, bark chips, pine straw, leaf mulches, stone mulches, and plastic mulches.
Fully organic mulches like un-dyed bark mulch, wood chips, and pine straw will always be superior at improving soil texture and nutrients because they are able to break down properly. This makes them some of the best options for plant health. Dyed bark, and especially stone and plastic mulches, are often chosen for aesthetics, and the stone and plastic in particular because they don't have to be reapplied as often, however all come with drawbacks for for plant health in the short and long term.
The pros and cons may make one type of mulch the better choice on a slope, or around a pool deck, or on a woodland edge, but proper application is important no matter the type. That means laying mulch at a proper depth and reapplying at appropriate intervals to keep it serving its purpose. Too thin or too thick of a mulch layer, of any type, can lead to problems with moisture, temperature, and more.
J.R. Thomas Landscaping ~ 10464 St. Rt. 48 Loveland, Ohio 4514 ~ 513-677-4340