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A Fall Perennial Checklist

by Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor,University of Vermont    

1. Check labels. As a famous garden writer once said, the only thing worse than a plant without a label is a label without a plant. What I've found work best are the soft aluminum labels you write on and make an impression. Even if the ink fades, the impression remains to identify the plant. Plastic labels, which require replacing yearly or as they become brittle, work well. You can write on them with just a plain pencil.

If you want to keep track of your perennials, check their labels now. If you are cutting back perennials, this is a good time to check the labels while you can still tell what the plant is. If you have a bed of many cultivars of the same type of perennial, a map is a good idea in case labels get lost or moved. Take inventory of what you have. This will help you avoid buying duplicates when you're looking through winter catalogs and shopping next spring.

2. Think like a rodent. Several practices such as cutting back and mulching can deter or attract voles, mice, and other rodents. If you have such pests, one option is to have dogs or cats. Another is to get traps. Spring traps work on either; the live traps such as "have a heart" only work on mice, chipmunks, and squirrels as voles usually live in the ground.

For voles, an effective trap is to bait an inexpensive spring trap with peanut butter, placing it by an entry hole to their burrow, and then placing a pot over the hole to trap. This way they think they're still in the burrow and come for the bait.

Sound devices that emit music or frequencies haven't worked in my beds. When planting bulbs, avoid odorous organic materials such as bonemeal that will attract small animals. Instead, use rock phosphate or superphosphate. Avoid poison baits if you have children or pets. Keep in mind, too, that other animals might eat the poisoned animals. Since perennials die back to the ground, winter damage from deer usually isn't a problem.

3. Fall fertility. Roots grow until ground temperatures are about 40 degrees F--about the first of November. Putting synthetic fertilizer, which is quicker acting than organic, on at least a month before this time may help. The best practice is to do a soil test in fall, especially if you haven't done one for a couple of years, and lime if needed. Lime is slow acting and will have changed the soil pH by spring when plants begin growing and needing nutrients.

Compost can be added in fall, especially if you cut back perennials. Otherwise, if your beds are full, it may be hard to get around all the plants. Fall compost application saves you one chore for spring. Although compost will add some nutrients, it has so many other beneficial effects, such as on soil organic matter and microorganisms, that fall application can be useful.

4. Cage your tall perennials. If you have tall perennials, an effective method of staking is to make a cage of wide mesh fence or concrete reinforcing wire (call a concrete company for this) to place around them. During the slower fall months when you're not busy mowing and weeding, make some of these up and place on taller plants once you cut them back. If in a windy area, you may also have to put in a stake with the cage to hold it in place. You may have a couple of different sizes for different height perennials. Plants will then grow up through the cage next spring, often hiding it entirely.

5. Bulbs. Such tender summer bulbs as gladiolus, caladiums, cannas, crocosmias, dahlias, and tuberoses need to be dug and stored in a cool place with temperatures above freezing. Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, and crocus before November in order to allow time for them to get established. Do not plant too early, or they may start growing above ground. And, if you have rodents and similar pests, avoid tulips, which they love, or plant with ground oyster shells, which they supposedly hate.

Other items on my checklist include making action notes of what to do next year, cutting back only diseased perennials, and making new garden beds that I might not have time to prepare next spring. If I mulch, it may only be my tender perennials or choice roses, and then only if I don't think I'll have time next spring due to other commitments.


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University of Vermont