Fall and winter are seasons typically labeled as downtimes for the garden.
With the impending cold weather, it’s a tag that makes sense. However, fall is actually a great time for planting, especially if you live in a region of the country with mild winters.
Soil is still warm in the fall, giving plants a quick growing start. By the first frost, roots have been established and may even continue to grow. By the spring, these fall-planted plants grow at a rapid rate, unlike spring-planted plants whose roots are struggling to begin growth in cold ground. By summer, the plants you planted in the fall have fully developed root systems giving them a greater chance of survival and productivity.
Need more reasons to plant in the fall? Having motivation to get outside in the winter and tend to your garden is great for your body and health. Here are some plants that could be planted right now.
Lettuce
Lettuce grows best in cold weather, but can last through the summer. This makes it ideal for fall planting.
Seedlings should have been laid in September, but you can still plant transplants in your garden, now. Lettuce actually needs very little sunlight, in comparison to other plants, so you do not need to reserve a prime spot in your garden for it; just be sure it will receive at least 5 hours of winter sunlight.
As temperatures drop, they will need shelter from frost. Fall planting varieties are Romaine, Butterhead, and Looseleaf Lettuce.
Garlic
Garlic requires fall planting and, with its excellent companion plant properties, it’s a great choice to plant in these months.
Image via Wikipedia
Before the first frost, plant individual cloves in an upright position. The key to fostering the garlic plants is good mulch. Three to four inches of mulch over freshly planted garlic allows the plant to tolerate freezing temperatures throughout winter.
During those cold months, side bulbs begin on the clove and develop into a garlic bulb in the spring.
Artichokes
Artichoke shoots are the best choice for new additions to gardens, as seeds are unreliable.
Choose a sunny spot in your garden, and plant in December. Artichokes need an easily draining spot, so that is another consideration for planting location. Cut shoots to ground level and cover with mulch for the winter.
Asparagus plants are known for being successful in areas where the soil freezes. In fact, this is almost a necessity.
If you’re utilizing asparagus as a fall or winter plant, you have to use seeds, rather than crowns. Seeds can take four years before you can harvest, but it is certainly worth it to have this expensive crop in your own backyard.
Soak the seeds for in water for at least three days before planting and plant in short neighboring rows.
Keep in mind that the plants will be very tall and will shade neighboring areas.
Terry Carter enjoys putting a bird feeder in her garden to attract birds in the winter when she’s putting down seeds.
Related articles
- The Garden Winds Down (floramary.wordpress.com)
- Food Security: Planning Next Year’s Garden (claimingliberty.wordpress.com)
- Frost Tolerant Veggies…. (angelbabe432.wordpress.com)
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I planted 3 garlic cloves. The freeze came through but I think because they are underground they’ll be okay. I covered them in a nice carpet of grass clippings. And my mom told me it takes asparagus 3 years to grow! I told her she’d better be patient, then. She won’t be having it for dinner tonight! ha! What did you plant this year?
Well Jennifer it is Summer down here so plenty of tomatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, Pepino, parsley, basil, potatoes, garlic, sunflowers, peppers, and pumpkin. It has been a great season for growing thus far – plenty of rain and sun.
Garlic should be OK with that carpet, just keep an eye on the thickness of the grass clippings as they tend to decompose quickly. If you have any Fall leaves they will do nicely shredded.
Sounds great! I am watching those grass clippings. We laid them so thick, they’re still doing well.
Too cute.
Pepino, potatoes, peppers, parsley, and pumpkin. So many p’s!
Hey. That makes sense Insulating them for the winter. I am from ct, but I also run a community garden in grantham pa.
Thanks for stopping by Paul – awesome to hear you are running a community garden. Very impressed. Looks like a great opportunity to use coffee grounds?
No need to thank me for stopping in, this site is a fantastic source for information and tips. I have shared you link with a number of friend in the field. The community garden is part of the Sustainability Program at Messiah College and we compost all of the waste from the cafeteria as well as satellite houses, so the majority of coffee grounds end up in the large piles on the edge of campus. That compost eventually ends up in our garden! Personally, I use coffee grounds in my vermiculture system. The compost from the system goes toward my own plants!
Wonderful post!
I have a question for you. You say that if you are planting Asparagus as a winter crop you should plant it from seed instead of crowns. Can you plant crowns in better weather and will they survive wintering over, or is there something about planting it from seed that is important for winter harvest? Thanks for the help! Keep up the great posts!
Paul
Hi there Paul. As long as you get a thick layer of compost or straw over them during the colder months you should be fine. That’s been my experience in Melbourne, although it rarely stays below zero during Winter. Where a bouts are you from?