Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom Horticultural tips and tricks from Rodd Moesel

The fall season is rushing by with the tree leaves transitioning from deep green fluttering food factories full of green chlorophyll to the yellow, orange and red colors of fall as the chlorophyll disappears for another season. Just as the colors change we get the gusting winds of the last week to strip many of these gorgeous leaves from their mounting docks on the tree limbs and cause them to float and fall by the millions to become the compost and humus of the future for our yards and soils. Nature is a continuous pattern of these stories of life beginning, sprouting, growing, getter older, changing colors and becoming the compost for the crops of tomorrow. We humans live that story ourselves but are afforded the opportunity to help orchestrate our interaction with some of nature’s trees, shrubs, bulbs, plants, fruits and vegetables in our own yards and communities. We can surround ourselves with the colors, scents and shapes that bring us joy and inspiration or stir memories and dreams as they feed our stomachs and souls.

We can plant now for short term excitement and immediate gratification with the tough and inspirational pansies, violas, flowering kale and cabbage that will make a show through most or all of the winter even as the rest of the plant world succumbs to the cold freezing days and nights ahead. For a little delayed gratification and a bit more willingness to think and plan ahead, now is the time to plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips, hyacinths, crocus, Dutch iris and my favorite, the daffodils to enjoy magnificent, uplifting and bright flowers early next spring as the plant world launches a new round in the annual sprout to compost cycle. For those with real hope for the future and willing to think long term there is no better gift for you to enjoy or to share with your children, grandchildren and the community than by planting trees and shrubs now. Trees can dramatically alter a yard and community by creating shade and shelter, housing birds and wildlife, creating an atmosphere and special outdoor spaces while providing cooling and enriching our world with oxygen.

No matter what is happening in your life, and it seems like everyone’s life is turbulent and emotional as we confront economic, political and election issues that seem beyond our control, now is a good time to enjoy the simple pleasures in your yard and garden. Plant some pansies, spring bulbs and trees as you act to get some control and certainty of the future and we strive to enjoy our trip through life and find our special purpose before we too become compost.

The couple of moist cool fronts that passed through the state this last week make it feel like fall has arrived. This weather brings home the reality that our first killing freeze is likely to visit us in the next couple of weeks.

You need to be thinking about what tender annuals, tropicals, hanging baskets or container gardens you want to bring inside for the winter. If you have a hobby greenhouse or a garden room with lots of windows and skylights you are blessed to have better conditions to save more of your summer garden to enjoy inside until next spring. If you are like most folks with a conventional house with limited windows you will probably be very limited in what you can bring in or save until next year. This is the time to edit your collection of garden plants before they freeze. You might have some tropical crotons, weeping figs or palms on the patio to bring in to keep by the picture windows. You may have a pet geranium plant, begonia or special variety of tropical hibiscus you want to save until next spring. You can collect cuttings off these pet plants to root in the kitchen window or other well lit spot or try to save the whole plant in a well lit room or enclosed porch. Some semi hardy plants like certain varieties of lantana and gerbera daisies will survive outside in mild winters with an extra layer of bark or hull type mulches to provide an additional blanket of insulation for the winter ahead.

Don’t forget this is a great time to plant cool season annuals like pansies, viola, flowering kale and cabbage in sunny areas for great color and excitement right through the winter and into early spring. This is also the time to plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips, hyacinths, crocus and my favorite the narcissus or daffodils. Plant them in well drained soil about twice as deep as the diameter of the bulb and they will provide a great splash of color early next spring. This is also a great time to plant container grown trees. If you lost trees or experienced significant damage to your trees in the 100 year ice storms of the last 2 years this is a great time to plant your shade trees of the future. Enjoy the pretty autumn weather and don’t forget to soak in the beautiful fall colors of our trees and landscape.

We are enjoying an absolutely gorgeous fall with the first signs of fall color showing on Bald Cypress and a few of our other trees and vines. It is a great time to overseed tall fescue lawn seed if you want a green lawn through the winter and early spring. The hardy mums are spectacular right now as they deliver mounds of color to our fall landscape. The mums will generally stay pretty until our first hard freeze in early to mid November.

Now is the season to start adding pansies to your landscape. They are one of the most remarkable plants as they lift their cute flower faces up to liven our yards and container gardens all through the winter and early spring. It is always fun to enjoy their yellow, white, orange, burgundy, blue and majestic purple flowers as they bloom even during snow and ice storms. Some pansies and their close cousins, violas, produce solid color flowers but many produce flower faces with the lower or jaw petals in one color and the upper or eye petals in another color which creates a really fun and colorful floral display. The pansies are available at your local nursery in many sizes but most are grown in an 18 count cell that is 3 ¼” to 4” square and makes a nice size plant to transplant into your porch urns, patio pots or front flower beds. I love to plant pansies along sidewalks and in front flower beds to help cheer me up through the winter when I leave the house or come home.  These tough little plants do best in the fall or winter garden when planted in the full sun. They will start to wither and run out of energy next spring and finally surrender or melt in our hot summer heat but they perform like few other plants during the freezing season from November to April each year. Once you have planted pansies in your garden and marveled at their ability to flourish and flower while most of the rest of the plant world is frozen or hibernating you will want to plant them and enjoy their winter charms each succeeding year. You can experiment with different colors, different faces, small or large flowered varieties but do plant some pansies and see if they don’t become one of your favorites.

Fall has officially arrived on the calendar and we are enjoying our second straight week of near perfect autumn weather. This is a great time to be outside doing the many fall gardening activities. This is the time to apply pre-emergent weed killers to control winter weeds and grasses and the final lawn fertilizer for the year. You can do both at once with a weed and feed type product. For years nurseries advertised “Fall is for Planting” and indeed this is a great time to plant container grown trees and shrubs in your yard. The roots will grow through the winter and the cooler weather will cause less transplanting stress and they will be ready to sprout out with new energy next spring. This is also a good time to plant additional perennials in your yard.

Hardy Mums are the star of the fall garden. Many varieties are just bursting into color and most varieties will stay showy until our first hard freeze in November. You can buy them now, in color, at your local nursery. They are available in hundreds of varieties and a virtual rainbow of colors like yellow, bronze, ruby red, pink, orange, white and lavender. The flowers are available in daisy, spoon, button and small and large double styles. They vary some in growth style from shorter cushion mums of 12” to 18” tall to the larger Belgian style hardy mums that can grow to over 3’ tall. Most all varieties make a nice mound of color and are perennials that will come back year after year with a little attention to watering. They make a spectacular display in front flower beds, by outdoor patios or even in container gardens and urns on your front porch or patio.

Nothing says fall like football season and hardy mums and our friends down at the University of Oklahoma in Norman combine these two fall traditions into an impressive display on their main oval each fall. It is one of Oklahoma’s most spectacular floral displays. Even an old OSU guy like me has to tip my hat to them for this impressive hardy mum display that is well worth a visit to Norman. It will make you want to plant 1 gallon, 2 gallon or larger hardy mums in your yard.

This is also the time to start sowing your fescue grass seed if you want a green winter lawn. You can also start planting pansies, kale and cabbage for fall and winter color. Enjoy fall and get outside in the yard and experience why “Fall is for Planting”.

The start of the State Fair is always a good reminder that it is time to apply fall fertilizer to our trees, shrubs and lawns one last time before winter. Since this is also the time to apply pre-emergent herbicides for winter annual weed control on warm season grasses you can use a weed and feed type product on your lawn to both fertilize the lawn and control the winter weeds. Do not use a pre-emergent weed killer on the areas where you plan to sow tall fescue, perennial rye or bluegrass seed. Late September through October is the prime season to establish cool season lawns or overseed Bermuda to have a green lawn this winter. .

We apply a pre-emergent in the early spring to control crabgrass and summer weeds. We apply it now to control winter annual broadleaf weeds like chickweed, henbit, fleabane and grassy weeds like annual bluegrass, cheat, downy brome, little barley and rescuegrass. Depending on soil moisture and the weather these will germinate or sprout in late September to early November. A pre-emergent herbicide must be applied before the seeds germinate in order to work. Once the seeds germinate a pre-emergent will not be effective and you have to use a post emergent for weed control. Most pre-emergents are effective for sixty to one hundred twenty days after application. All pre-emergents need to be watered in for them to be effective. If you don’t get ½” of rain in one to two days after application you will need to water thoroughly to activate the product. The pre-emergent herbicide needs to be watered into the root zone where the weed seeds are located to be effective.  Look for a weed and feed product containing Barricade/Prodiamine, Dimension, Sulfentrazone, Simazine, Balan or Treflan herbicides for best results.

The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are cooling down and autumn appears to have arrived. Soon it will be time to plant hardy mums, pansies, ornamental kale, cabbage and other fall color plants. In the mean time enjoy the Crepe Myrtle, Autumn Clematis, Roses, Lycoris (Naked Ladies and Surprise Lilies) as they bloom in our yards. Start shopping for your spring flowering bulbs like tulips, hyacinths, crocus and daffodils to plant in your yard later this fall when temperatures are cooler to create a welcoming party early next spring.