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.