Shrubs

 It will be October in less than a week, and many of you may have given up on your gardens for the winter. When most gardeners think of October, they think of raking leaves and cleaning out for the spring.

But, if you have a garden project you are just itching to finish, don’t wait. The horticulturists around here stress that fall is the best time to plant. This may not be safe for some of the colder parts of the USA, but for most of us, the weather is mild and the soil is willing. Actually, it’s even a little warm here in South Carolina today.

This is a great time to get those shrubs and trees in the ground. For most plants. as long as they are listed as hardy to your USDA hardiness zone, then you can plant them most any time of the year, unless the ground is frozen. Planting in the fall will allow more time for good strong roots to develop before spring. Your trees will perform better than if you wait until it warms up next year to plant them.

 One of the most interesting things that plants do in the fall is change colors – each year, millions of people flock to the Appalachian mountains to look at all the bright colors of deciduous foliage.

You can have a huge range of interesting fall foliage in your own garden. Japanese maples, apples, ginkgos, and all of the other deciduous trees will light up with reds, purples, and yellows until winter bring all of that foliage down into crispy rake-able piles.

There are a couple of real autumn beauties from Wayside Gardens this year. Ginkgo Autumn Gold is certainly an eye-catcher with its bright golden foliage that will make your whole yard glow. Another fall favorite is the Acer Palmatum ‘Tiger Rose’ with its multi-colored leaves of salmon, pink, orange, and green.

As gardeners we have an opportunity to be a little more in tune to the changes and happenings as the seasons change. Migrating birds, the coming and going of pesky insects, clouds of pollen, budding, blooming, and eventually, seeding are all things that pass under the nose of the ever-observant gardener. Watching nature can teach you so much about your own garden. One of the biggest questions we get is, “when do I plant this?” The answer for most shrubs, trees, bulbs, and perennials will almost always be: “in the fall.”

Wildflowers, trees, and shrubs all seed in the fall in nature- the summer is filled with fruit and blooms, but the seeds don’t hit the ground until fall. They spend the winter dormant and sprout up right on time in the spring. This works just as well with bulbs and bare-root plants shipped in the fall. They spend their dormant period searching the ground with their roots, slowly becoming established, and they will have a huge leap on any plants planted in the spring.

It is not necessary to plant in the fall, most plants will do just fine as long as the ground isn’t frozen, but the fall planting season is ideal for most varieties. You will have earlier blooms and more productive plants in the following spring and summer.

Few blooms provide more showy appeal than Hydrangeas: long-blooming, with showers of magnificent clusters of colorful flowers. However, some of us may be wondering why that beautiful pink shrub that we planted last year has now turned a bright shade of blue! Hydrangeas may produce pink, blue, or lavender blooms, depending on where it’s planted and how it’s fed. The presence of aluminum in the plant ultimately determines the color, and pH affects the uptake of aluminum. Alkaline soils, pH of 6.0 or more, are more likely to produce pink blooms, and more acidic soils, pH 4.5 to 5.5, produce blue flowers.

You can change your bloom color to blue, pink or red with acidic or alkaline soil!

• Always test your soil before planting (Soil Test Kits are available online).
• Know your Hydrangea variety: white, panicle, and climbing Hydrangeas do not change color.
• In slightly acid or neutral soil (pH 6 to 7), blooms can be a mix of blue and pink on the same plant.
• If your soil pH is very high (alkaline) it will be harder to lower its concentration. Plant pink and white varieties only.

Acidic Soil (pH below 6) Blue flowers:

• Hydrangeas can be turned blue by applying aluminum sulfate to lower pH, adding available aluminum to the soil for plant uptake. To lower the pH of your soil, add Espoma® Soil Acidifier to alkaline soil by following label directions.

Alkaline soil (pH above 7) Pink or Red flowers:

• Applying lime to raise the pH level will help blue Hydrangeas turn pink. This is done by applying a high phosphorus fertilizer and/or Espoma® Garden Lime according to label directions.

PRO TIP: If your soil naturally produces very blue or very pink hydrangea flowers, you may need to grow your hydrangeas in containers or raised beds to achieve the desired color.

PRO TIP: If you do attempt to change the color of your blooms by adding these minerals, dilute them well, and add sparingly. It is very easy to scorch your plants by adding too much. Always follow the product’s application instructions for the safest and best results.