2018 Fall Catalog 2018 Fall Activity Guide | Page 48

Guest Gardner
Tips For What To Do In
Your Fall Garden
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County
One of the great things about living in California is we can easily
garden year-round. Late summer and early fall is the time to plant a
winter/early spring vegetable garden. Vegetables planted in late summer
and early fall’s warm soil are able to grow and establish roots before cold
wet weather sets in. Once the days shorten and cooler weather comes
these well-established seedling will stop growing and wait for spring. As
the days get longer and weather warms they will have a head start on
any seedling or seeds planted in the spring. For your winter/early spring
vegetables choose a sunny spot with soil that drains. Preferably a spot
where the water does not pool in the winter is important so roots can
survive during the rainy season.
There are many vegetables that can be planted in fall for a late winter/
early spring harvest including many root vegetables, greens like lettuce
and spinach and many of the cole crops, broccoli, cabbage and their
kin. For more ideas of what to plant go to the UC Master Gardeners
Garden Resources page, there are 3 different vegetable planting guides
found under under Healthy Garden Tips available at http://ucanr.edu/
sites/ucmgnapa
Many annual spring flowers can also be seeded in the fall, choose native
California wild flower mixes for your garden to attract pollinators
and provide food for our many native bee species. To make sure your
wild flowers succeed you will need to control the weeds so they do not
compete with your wild flowers for sun and water.
Fall is also a great time to plant most landscape plants, California native
plants and even trees. By planting in the fall you will take advantage of
the winter rains to help you keep your new plants watered while they
establish and grow new deep roots. All plants need extra water when
they are first planted, even drought tolerant plants need regular deep
watering for the first couple years until they become established then
their water may be greatly reduced. Some California native plants may
not need any supplemental water other than winter rain once they are
well established unless we have another multi-year drought.