The end of summer does not have mean the end of planting — even if you live north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
While most traditional backyard garden plants may be drying up — if not long gone in a hot, dry summer such as most of the Midwest is experiencing this year — there is still time to plant for the future.
If you’ve got a green thumb, want to produce more of your own food or just feel the need to add more variety to your landscape, fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs.
That’s because new plantings can get a chance to send out roots and get acclimated to their new home before it gets cold. Then they will be ready to flourish when spring rolls around with its nourishing rains and welcoming warmth.
What to plant this fall (and what not to)
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension offers a load of information on why this is a great time of year to plant new trees and what to consider when doing so.
However, not just anything can go in the ground this time of year.
UW-Madison recommends planting these varieties of trees now:
- Apple
- Catalpa
- Crabapple
- Elm
- Forsythia
- Horse chestnut (Buckeye)
- Hackberry
- Hawthorn
- Honey locust
- Lilac
- Linden
- Most maples
- Redbud
- Sycamore
- Witch hazel
On the other hand, some varieties and species are better left until spring.
Those include:
- Azalea
- Cherry
- Dogwood
- Plum
- Oak
- Gingko
- Birch
- Beech
- Hawthorn
- Magnolia
- Red maple
- Poplar
- Rhododendron
- Redbud
- Tulip tree
- Sweet gum
- Willow
- Most Evergreens, including hemlock, arborvitae, and other broad leaved evergreens
When to plant
In general, September through early October is a good window for a fall planting, but that can vary from year to year and region to region in the United States.
The main thing to be aware of is that your new planting needs about six weeks to get established before the ground freezes, and it is ideal if the ground is still above 50 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of planting, according to the experts at UW-Madison.
New plantings will need lots of water, but that is another reason to plant now, as fall typically brings plenty of rain to keep the ground moist until it freezes and the trees go dormant for winter.
Where to buy
While your local garden center can be hard to beat when it comes to trees and shrubs specifically for your area, there’s always the Internet.
Stark Bros. is a national online retailer that has marked down hundreds of its trees for folks looking to add more shrubs and trees to their properties before it gets cold outside.
Those start as low as $18.16 for elderberry trees and go all the way up to $169.99 for particular varieties of pecans, nectarines, and crabapples.
Many varieties of apple tree are also on sale, including KinderKrisp, Scarlet Spire, Crimson Spire, WineCrisp, WineSap, Fuji, Freedom, CandyCrisp, Emerald Spire, Jonafree, Yellow Transparent, Golden Delicious, Lodi, Red Delicious, Arkansas Black, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Liberty, Gavenstein, Cortland, Macoun, Empire, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Northern Spy and more.
If trees aren’t your style, bushy plants such as blueberries and raspberries are also good candidates to plant this fall.
Strawberries are another option, as they will not bear fruit until their second year anyway.
