Fall is an inspiring time for a relaxed refresh. As the garden transitions from warm summer days to crisp autumn temperatures, tasks turn to tidying up, bedding down, and basking in the simple pleasures of what (to me) is a beautiful time of year that moves along all too quickly.
To recharge the garden and boost curb appeal, relish the themes of the season and focus on streamlined maintenance tasks as fall rounds the corner. A few simple steps can improve the look of your landscape and imbue it with the season’s effortless charm and inviting style.
Employ Quick Color
Incorporating new fall colors is one of the best and easiest ways to boost curb appeal quickly. It’s also an impactful tool for creating the garden’s aesthetic and unifying the landscape. The mild temperatures of fall bring the good fortune of overlapping color from perennials and annuals with blooms in rich reds, purples, pinks, and golds. Changing leaves, too, add vertical interest.
Cool season annuals are a swift way to add fresh color. They’ll start in fall, and when little else is blooming in winter, extend the pop of cheer we crave. Frost-tolerant annuals like violas and pansies offer reliable bloom performance in boundless colors. Snapdragons, ornamental kale, calendula, poppies, and bachelor buttons are other flowering annuals that provide either lasting winter color or a burst of cool-season blooms, depending on your climate.
Incorporate Containers
Update potted arrangements to feature color, texture, and form. Place containers to enjoy the plants up close, where they emphasize entrances like the front door or garden gate, walkways, or seating areas. Create a single focal point, symmetrical designs, or clustered containers of varying sizes.
Use annuals to embellish anchoring evergreens and perennials. Containers offer an array of opportunities to feature the season’s specialties, like chrysanthemums, asters, and ornamental greens.
Accent with Natural Elements
Whether you plunge headlong into all things fall or enjoy just a touch of the autumnal, natural elements add visual interest while keeping things simple. Gifts from the garden, such as pumpkins, gourds, fresh and dried florals, and unique seed pods, punch up the container display, front porch, or seasonal wreath.
Tend to Perennials
Perennials are workhorses in enhancing fall curb appeal, with late-season bloomers extending color until frost. It’s the time for ornamental grasses to shine, adding texture and movement to the landscape. Instead of cutting them back, keep them intact through the winter to enjoy their unique forms, plumes, and seed heads. They also provide forage for birds and shelter for wildlife.
Divide perennials in the fall to expand the display, reduce crowding, and invigorate growth, boosting curb appeal for future seasons.
For extended interest, minimize cutting back perennials. This can provide extra insulation for sensitive crowns or tender selections. Dormant plants provide nesting places and shelter for those beneficial insects we aim to attract in the warm season.
Cut perennials back selectively or leave them intact as they go dormant later in the season after heavy frost. When leaves drop and stems brown on woody perennials, cut them back to 6-12” above the ground. A key component is to add mulch or leaves to protect the crown and roots as winter temperatures ensue.
Leave plants with attractive seed pods and bloom structures to add variety to the garden. Seed pods and heads provide lasting winter appeal. During a quiet time in the landscape, seeds add textural interest.
Stop deadheading in early fall to let plants go to seed for numerous benefits. Natural seed drop promotes future colonies. Some perennials, such as echinacea, rudbeckia, and catmint, germinate best via winter temperatures for cold stratification. Seeds are also a food source for songbirds and other wildlife, providing energy stores in fall and winter when food sources become leaner.
Spruce Up Beds
Fall is ideal for sweeping garden beds and redefining their edges, enhancing curb appeal and garden cleanliness. Pull any lingering weeds and remove debris from the base of plants to reduce pests and diseases that may overwinter. Refreshing the mulch layer revives the look and insulates roots in dropping temperatures.
Use fall leaves as mulch for added ecological benefits. Leaves are a renewable resource right from the garden. They also add sheltering habitat for insects, invertebrates, and mammals. As leaf litter breaks down throughout the season, it enriches the soil.
Pluck spent annuals, seasonal crops, and perennials to improve the appearance of beds and containers. Cut off any brown, crispy, or unsightly growth. These subtle, simple steps give an overall kempt appearance to the broader landscape.
Add New Plantings
Fall is the best time to plant many trees, shrubs, perennials, and spring-flowering bulbs. Are there gaps in the garden, a new bed you want to create, or a problem area to screen?
Creating a planted buffer or “screen” is a lovely way to mask unsightly and utilitarian elements. Planted screens add beauty and enhance privacy. Use them to define spaces and sculpt views.
Consider shrubs and trees with multiseason appeal, including winter interest. A landscape with curb appeal relies on plants that shine throughout the seasons. When one plant is out of flower or dormant, another takes the spotlight with unique foliage, fruits, or blooms.
Prune for Best Form and Health
Pruning is an essential garden task, usually accomplished in fall and late winter. Prune any dead branches, stems, or limbs off woody shrubs and trees to prepare the winter garden. Trim and shape shrubs to reduce size or regain form. Pruning promotes vigor and a clean look to the plant.
Pruning helps overall health by reducing the chances of cracking and breaking during winter freezes. Winter damage can impact healthy tissues beyond the dead wood. For large limbs, consult an arborist for best practices.
In addition to promoting health, pruning reduces debris after winds or winter storms and ensures safe conditions. Keeping things tidy also increases the beauty of the cool-season garden when so much is viewed in contrast, especially with deciduous trees and shrubs. Healthy branches offer sturdy perches for wildlife.
Maintain Turf
Where you have grass, stay on top of turf management by keeping it free of thick, fallen leaves (leaves won’t hurt the grass unless they begin to block sunlight and moisture). Throw those leaves into your perennial beds as a free mulch.
In warm climates, early fall still means irrigating and mowing. Seed any bare patches well before the first frost for infill.
Continue mowing at two to three inches high until growth slows as temperatures cool. Mowing also chops dropped leaves for added mulch and a clean appearance.
Create Warmth With Lighting
Soft, warm lighting evokes a charming evening landscape and showcases features when the sun goes down. Lighting can be subtle and strategic, ensuring safe and inviting paths and entrances.
Place uplights to highlight garden features and plant specimens and to give the area a soft, all-around glow.
For outdoor gathering areas, consider solar lanterns or string lights to add a festive glow. A fire pit, chiminea, or outdoor heater creates cozy spaces to extend garden enjoyment and warm up brisk days and nights.
