Fall Planting & Sod For Your Landscape
The goal for any Fall planting installation, including sod, is to develop deep root systems. Plants need access to water and food during the cold, winter months.
In this blog, you’ll discover why fall is the best time to add new plantings and sod to your New Jersey property.
4 Reasons for Fall Planting
Here are four reasons why ornamental trees, shrubs and sod do well when planted in the fall:
1. The air temperature is cooler while the soil temperature is still warm: With the crisper temperatures, your newly planted woody plants and sod can focus their energy on root development rather than surviving heat stress. The warmer soil also triggers plant roots to dive deep into the soil.
2. There’s ample rainfall: Typically Northern NJ benefits from regular rainfall in September through November. The rain helps water your new plants as well as helps you save money on your water bills.
3. Roots go deep into the ground and get anchored before winter: Your new plants will go as deep as possible in the ground to look for moisture. This deep rooting helps to anchor your woody plants into the soil as well as allows them to build stores of nutrition for winter.
4. Your new plants have a head start for spring: By installing woody plants and sod, you’ll benefit next spring when your new shrubs, trees and sod show their colors.
Flowering Shrubs to Consider for Fall Planting
Nothing is better than to see bright pink, purple or red blossoms in your springtime landscape—especially after a cold, snowy winter. When you vary the types of bushes you plant, you’ll have a full growing season of continuous color.
Here are some popular shrubs that flower at different times of the season:
- Azaleas
- Forsythia
- Hydrangea
- Lilacs
- Ninebark
- Rose of Sharon
- Smoke tree (when this plant has multiple stems, it’s considered a shrub)
- Spirea
- Viburnum
- Virginia Sweetspire
These shrubs bloom at different times throughout the growing season, so your goal should be mixing and matching different shrubs to have continuous blooming throughout the spring, summer and into the fall.
Do you own a SMART sprinkler system? Read more about WiFi controllers in this blog.
Sod Lawns
Whether your property is newly built, or you’re renovating your existing lawn, installing sod in the fall is much better than waiting until spring.
First, you avoid mud and potential erosion with a bare yard due to construction or heavy foot traffic.
Second, your newly planted sod will anchor itself into the ground well before the ground freezes. Like the other plants mentioned above, your sod lawn will develop deep roots to help it survive over the winter.
But most importantly, grass loves warm soil and cool air temperatures. Their roots and crown areas grow the best under these conditions. In the spring the ground is still too cold to grow vigorously like it does now.
In the spring, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the early green up of your new lawn.
S
od is pretty basic—either it’s a cold or warm season grass. In Northern New Jersey, we at Horizon Landscape only plant cool season grasses that do well in our climate.
Now’s the time, before the ground freezes, to invest in trees, shrubs and sod.
Your woody plants and sod lawn will have plenty of time to develop stronger and longer root systems as well as become established to survive the winter.
If you’re looking to add new shrubs, trees, and sod to your NJ property, call us today at 201-848-0022 or fill out our contact form.
Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us.
-Psalm 67:6
Sources:
BHG.com, “Best Time to Lay Sod.”
Ibid, “Flowering Shrubs by Season.”
HomeDepot.com, “Fall is the Best Time to Plant Trees and Shrubs.”