
In October gardens are getting ready for their winter slumbers, but before they go to bed, it’s a wonderful time to reflect on what flourished in your garden and what maybe didn’t do as well… which edits you want to make for the next year, and maybe wrap-up the season with some fall planting.
Fall is a fantastic time to edit your garden. Moving plants around gives them time to re-establish their roots over the fall and winter so that they’re ready to return in the spring and summer. Perennials are resilient and don’t mind being dug up and moved if they’re going to be in a better spot that will help them thrive. I’ve found that during the summer some plants that started tiny in the spring grew to be much taller than expected, and if I had planted them as border plants they might now be blocking others. This is an excellent example of where I might edit. I will dig up the taller plant and move it more toward the middle or back of my bed so that it doesn’t block out the shorter plants. Also, don’t forget to label the plants you move! It’s hard to tell in the spring if your perennial plant is a weed or not, it helps to have a label in the ground so that you know not to dig it up.
Fall is also a good time to thin plants out. Native perennials are known to sleep (the first year), creep (the second year), and leap (the third year). If you’ve found that your plants are creeping too much or have leaped in places you didn’t want, it's a good time to dig those up and use them to create new garden beds. You could also pot them up and share your extras with friends and neighbors. The wonderful thing about native perennials is that they’re a gift that keeps giving.

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