Fall is for Planting
Trees and Shrubs Often Grow Best Planted in the Fall
Depending on your zone, fall is often the best time of the year for planting due to climate and soil temperatures.
Years ago the California Association of Nurserymen came up with a new advertisement campaign entitled - Fall is for Planting. Soon after the release, banners were proudly displayed on Nursery Buildings and shade structures throughout the State.
As commonplace as it may sound, the simple new slogan gets right to the honest truth – fall is indeed, in many climates the best time for planting – with a few exceptions. (Cold winter climates are often best spring-planted.)
To illustrate, let's look at what happens when plants are put in the ground during the fall. Firstly, fall is like a second springtime of the year. Temperatures drop from the summer scorch as our precious earth travels further away from the Giant Hot Orb in the sky. As this happens, plant life is tricked into growing again by the moderate temperatures afforded.
But unlike spring planting, which is followed by our blazingly hot summer (and often the cause of plant failure), the temperature cools as winter fades in and plants go dormant or semi-dormant, depending on the species. So with that, plants root out into the ground easily and then get to go on a retreat all winter, where many species will continue to still put on root growth, and be pumped to take off the following spring.
The exception to truth of CAN’s banner slogan is that a few certain plants should in fact not be planted in the fall. These are plants that may suffer from frost. The first that comes to mind is Citrus - if indeed you are lucky enough to live in an acceptable climate zone. Established citrus (depending on the variety as many can withstand more cold than others) will usually handle the cold temperatures Mother Nature deals out. However, every so often she decides to hit us extra hard and more susceptible varieties will suffer. With that, it’s best to spring plant citrus, and give it a full season's head start – thereby establishing a good resilient root system before the cold hits.
Planting Citrus Based on Cold Tolerance
Lime is very sensitive to cold so place it in a microclimate zone – sheltered by the house or large evergreen trees. Satsuma Mandarin and other Tangerines are generally more cold tolerant and can take open areas better. With Lemons the Meyer is more cold tolerant than a Eureka or Lisbon, and Oranges will sometimes bite the dust in extreme cold conditions.
In any case, it’s better to err than never try at all – so give it a shot.
Certain ground covers and plants that won’t really put on a flowery show are often best planted in spring. Fall planting can doom these - especially if the area is overly wet. If this is the case, you may want to mound the area and plant high, or install water-loving plants, such as the Ogon Acorus Grass, or Hibiscus moscheutos.
Once your new trees and shrubs are planted, make certain you keep the root-ball zone sufficiently moist until winter rains are commonplace and take over the duty. Also, if needed in your zone,don’t forget to make sure you have an irrigation system on a timer and it's set properly. Plants like consistency in watering habits. Remember, sharpen your shovel because - FALL IS FOR PLANTING.
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