We are officially in the fall season. The temperatures have come down to a more pleasant level and that means that your lawn no longer needs as heavy a watering schedule as it did through the summer (don’t forget to adjust your automatic sprinklers.) You shouldn’t be watering the same amount as you did during the summer.
Typically at this time of year most flower beds and borders look worn out. But though it may feel counterintuitive, fall is the best time to plant in North Texas for a few good reasons.
- Your soil is still warm in fall in North Texas.
- The air is cooling down which means plants will lose less moisture through their leaves.
- And most importantly, these conditions lead to stronger root growth than any other season of the year.
I went into much greater detail on this subject on our blog a few weeks back. You can read that entry here if you like.
At this time of the year nurseries are well stocked with hardy, late-blooming plants to refresh your bed. And the best part about planting at this time of year is that the plants will have ideal conditions to grow strong roots over winter, so they’ll be ready to sprint into bloom next spring.
If you want to introduce some fall color some of our favorites are…
- Pansies: In North Texas Dallas if you want colorful blooms over the winter your go-to flower are pansies. I’ve never understood why the name pansy got associated with wimpy when they’re the toughest flower I’ve seen. They can weather single digit temperatures and wintry precipitation. Then, a few sunny days later, will bounce back and start blooming again. They will bloom better with a high phosphorous fertilizer (5-30-5 ratio.) Like most flowers they prefer a loose well drained soil so they don’t stay wet after watering. An easy way to accomplish that is to add potting soil to the bed. Pansies are like candy to rabbits, so if you have a large population in your area, it may be challenge to grow them.
- Violas: They have pansy-like blooms except the blooms are tiny. You can plant these in similar conditions to pansies.
- Kale and/or Cabbage: Oddly enough, if you have rabbit problems, you are safe planting kale and/or cable. Rabbits would rather eat your pansies versus eating your vegetables! These aren’t as colorful as pansies but they’re easy to grow. To make them look nice later in the spring, trim off the blooms.
- Mums: These are wonderful fall plants. Like azaleas, they only bloom a few weeks out of the year, but when they bloom they look great, especially with pumpkins.
- Cyclamen: These are beautiful, delicate flowers but a our North Texas winters can be too harsh for them. I recommend planting a few of them for a nice change of color in your lawn or landscape, but don’t get carried away.
You can also introduce a burst of color by purchasing some pumpkins and gourds at a local pumpkin patch. As a long time member of Arapaho United Methodist Church I’d like to put in a plug for you to visit our patch at the NE corner of Arapaho and Coit if you live in the area. For customers living farther east, check out Cornerstone United Methodist Church (this is my parent’s church) in Garland.
Village Green offers full landscaping design and installation for our customers. I invite you to view our online portfolio and if you are thinking of adding some fall color, or doing any landscape work to give us the opportunity to earn your business. We’re happy to do a free quote and answer any questions you may have. Simply call 972-495-6990 or email [email protected].