With the dog days of summer in retreat and cooler temperatures receiving a warm welcome, nature signals autumn is here. With the arrival of this popular season, it’s the ideal time to tidy up garden plants, pots, and beds to ensure healthy growth next spring.
For seniors looking to add to or manage their small-space garden, refresh their containers, or do a quick and easy fall garden clean-up, these five tips can make quick work of the season’s transition and tasks.

How Does Your Garden Grow?
Gardening is a hobby enjoyed by adults of all ages who love being outside and feeling productive. It offers a sense of accomplishment for the time and effort invested and can be guided by the level of independence, endurance, and abilities. Some older adults maintain large gardens well into their 70s and 80s, while others prefer low-maintenance, easy-care options (think: raised beds, containers, hanging plants), that require minimal exertion. Whatever your preference, remember that gardening practices can be adapted in your senior years to accommodate changing needs.

Know Your Growing Season
Most gardeners have a thorough understanding of various growing seasons and regional planting guidelines, however, if you’re just starting out or have recently moved to a new area, you’ll want to review a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which serves as a guide to determining which plants can thrive in different locations.

Available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this map reveals a location’s hardiness zone simply by entering your zip code. The site also offers simple tips for growers, with information about pest management, plant diseases, soil health, and more. If your area enjoys warmer or more temperate weather during the fall months, you may have extended time for fall gardening. For locations prone to early fall frost, schedule your garden plans accordingly.

5 Fall Gardening Tips
In this article, we’re sharing five fall gardening tips that can be easily remembered and implemented by using “The 5 Ps” – Plant, Prune, Propagate, Prepare, and Plan. 

These tips are designed to serve as a resource for gardeners of all abilities living in a variety of environments. Whether you tend a large backyard garden, maintain the flower beds in your community, or care for containers on your patio or porch, you can find an easy takeaway to guide your fall gardening plans. For older adults in an independent or assisted living community, these tips can be applied to any garden and shared with neighbors, fellow residents, or volunteers who manage gardening tasks.

Plant
Autumn is a perfect time of year for planting something old or new. Did you have your eyes on something at your local garden center this spring? Many nurseries and growers offer discounts on perennials in late summer, making it the perfect time to add a few favorites to your garden. 

Spring flower bulbs, like daffodils and tulips, should be planted in the fall to allow time for colder weather before spring blooms. Depending on your location, pansies can also be planted in fall’s cooler weather and will bloom again in spring, offering two seasons of color. Woody perennials, such as hydrangeas, or even trees and shrubs, can be a good choice for planting before temperatures drop.

Propagate
Before buying anything new, look around your garden for plants that can be propagated, or cultivated into new spaces by separating a larger parent plant. Dividing and transplanting perennials like hostas, daylilies, coneflowers, irises, astilbe, creeping phlox, and other plants can be successful if cared for properly before colder weather. Ensure plants are well-watered and covered with mulch before freezing temperatures arrive.

Don’t have enough room for propagating? Share those plants with another eager gardener, a new neighbor, or a family member. Perennials that pass between generations, such as Grandma’s irises, or Dad’s rhubarb can be long-living plants that take on special value for children and grandchildren. What a wonderful way to share a piece of your gardening legacy!

Prune
Pruning in the fall has mixed reviews and can vary depending on what you are pruning and your peak growing season. Research the guidelines for your location before picking up those shears to ensure you don’t interrupt the plant or shrub’s growing cycle. When pruning, get rid of dead or diseased branches and leaves. Foliage that is overgrown or affected by disease, slugs, or insect damage should be removed, and not composted back into the garden. Perennial favorites such as peonies, lavender and other herbs, lilies and daylilies, bee balm, coneflowers, catmint, and irises can be pruned back in fall for a safe return in spring. 

Unsure if you should prune (or not) and when? Check out the gardening guides available on The Old Farmer’s Almanac site for more advice. 

Prepare
Along with planting, transplanting, and pruning, take steps to prepare and protect your garden through the colder temperatures. These steps will vary by region, but focus on mulching, composting, and soil care. Newer plants or young transplants will need extra attention and should be watered thoroughly and protected with a layer of mulch. Pull up any existing weeds in your garden beds before covering them with fresh mulch and do the same for any areas where you plan to plant anything new in the spring. Containers and pots can be emptied and stored upside down, and garden tools cleaned and sharpened. Stash away garden gnomes and ornamental accessories prone to cracks or breakage with the colder weather.

If your location requires you to bring any plants indoors for the colder months (a lemon tree, fig tree, hibiscus, etc.), carefully make space for them. Consider drying herbs from your garden to use in the coming months or bringing a pot indoors to keep growing in the kitchen. 

Plan
The fall season is the perfect time to jot down garden notes to ensure a successful growing season next year. What annuals grew well for you this year? What would you like to try for next year’s garden? What pests will need better control? What will need spring pruning and when? What additions would you like to make to your garden, if any? Thinking ahead and setting goals in writing can help you remember your own tips for success and any ideas for improving what you’ve already created.

Home & Garden Maintenance
Gardening is a labor of love, but if maintaining your home and garden has become too burdensome through the years, consider a senior living community. An active independent or assisted living community can offer a smaller, more manageable space to cultivate your gardening hobby while handling home maintenance and other chores that keep you from your garden.  

To learn more about the senior living lifestyle, chat with residents, or speak to a senior living counselor who can help, schedule a tour, or contact us today. Cardinal Bay’s relationship-centered senior living options support the lifestyle of independent, active seniors and those looking for support and assistance with their daily routines. Subscribe to our blog for more valuable free resources and see how a Cardinal Bay community in Texas or Oklahoma can enable you or your senior loved one to thrive!