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Ask the Chuckster...
Fall Planting

What do I need to know about fall planting here in the mountains?

Of course you can plant in any season with our containerized plants, but you'll just have to pay more attention to initial watering and management. The beauty of fall planting, particularly as it gets a little cooler, is twofold. First, because the plants are not in active growth, they won't have to be watered as frequently after planting. You'll still need to water well at planting time and for the first several weeks after planting and any time up until leaf drop when you see the first signs of leaf wilting. Refer to the Useful Plants Nursery website for complete planting and watering instructions and videos.

Secondly fall planting is advantageous as far as plant development is concerned. With fall planting and adequate mulch, plants will continue to grow roots through the winter and be ready for vigorous growth come spring. Essentially fall planted plants will grow significantly better during the following growing season than plants that you wait to plant until the spring because fall planted plants are better acclimated and have well developed root systems to promote optimum growth. Be sure to always mulch your fall planted plants well, about 3" of mulch is adequate. Keep the mulch a couple inches away the stems of fruit trees and shrubs, and make sure all plantings drain well.

Does this hold true for the Piedmont as well?

Yes it does, though in the Piedmont, which has a longer fall season and a milder winter, you have a longer planting window. Thus, you can delay your planting a little longer and plants will still be well established by spring. You may also need to water a bit longer until your plants go completely dormant.

What about fertilizing in the fall or when fall planting?

Be cautious about fall fertilization with any nitrogen containing fertilizer for trees, shrubs and vines or you might delay your plant's dormancy and expose un-hardened off late growth to killing temperatures that will do tissue damage, leaving dead stems that will need to be pruned off in late winter.

When planting in the fall, be sure to incorporate minerals such as agricultural lime, colloidal or rock phosphate, granite dust, and greensand into the planting hole along with a bit of high quality worm castings and compost. Do not add any materials which contain significant amounts of nitrogen, which could artificially stimulate late growth in your plants during a warm spell.

Are there any plants that I shouldn't plant in the fall, or that need special attention?

There are a few precautions to consider for fall planting. First, be cautious when planting broad leaved evergreens in late fall. The only ones of these UPN carries are Camellia sinensis, the tea camellia, and Yuzu Ichandrin citrus. They can still be planted if they are wrapped to protect from winter winds, which can dry them out before their roots are well established or if the ground is frozen deeply. Depending on elevation and location, I'd also be cautious about planting figs in the mountains in late fall or early winter unless they are winter wrapped and mulched well. I'll talk about about winter wrapping sensitive plants such as figs, citrus or tea camellias in our November newsletter and we should have a video to show you how.

From the UPN September 2010 newsletter.