The firepit, and making new beds for more color in the back corner of the yard. I neglected it hard this year.

Filling the new section of my expanded "area 5" bed with perennials... and getting a compost bin (or 2) built so I can make good use of all the leaves.

My newest bed has ended up a disorderly looking mess because, other than placement of a crape myrtle and a couple of shrubs, I've been sticking things in it without much of a plan. It's right out front, too, so it's become an embarrassment.

I'm going to try to give it some unity by noting what--if anything--is still living and looking decent at the end of the summer and getting more of that.

No doubt I'll need to replace some grass, too, if it doesn't rain soon.

No doubt I'll need to replace some grass, too, if it doesn't rain soon.

With flower beds, right? I mean, if it's dead grass and all, you're already halfway there.

Actually, token, that is how most of my flower beds have been placed. First the chinch bugs kill the grass, then I do the lasagna thing on the dead areas.

It's worked out really well. I have very little grass left in the sun so it's easier to keep alive during these droughts. And my beds are shapes that I like a lot, but never would have thought to do on my own. I do want to keep a little lawn, though, cause I like the contrast with all the planted beds.

I have a long list of plants to move and beds to rearrange or amend heavily in hope of better results next spring and summer.

I notice that most of the responses on this thread have been from those of us with very hot summers. Wonder if those who garden further north feel the same longing for Fall's relief?

Bulbs: Palest yellow daffodils and bluest hyacinths. Maybe some more Snake's Head Iris (hermodactylus). Maybe I'll just move some existing lilies around, maybe I'll buy some more. Crocosmia needs digging and replanting where it grew itself out of the ground.

Daylilies: Need dividing and moving. Need to draw some maps now.

Shrubs: Some little crape myrtles need moving. There are always suckering shrubs that need moving on things like mock orange and sweet shrub.

November Seed Scattering: Replant the meadow on the old barn site, scatter seeds in every bed that has a bare spot after first frost.

Cuttings: Long list of cuttings to take inside to hold over, tropicals to dig and a short list of things that didn't work well last year to not repeat, like Butterfly Lily Hedychiums want dying down, not potting up.

Compost and Mulch: Gather and haul peanut hay after harvest.

Nell

"Cuttings: Long list of cuttings to take inside to hold over"

How do you do this Nell? Do you just pot them up inside and keep them over the winter. I've managed to kill every indoor plant I've tried including the unkillable aloe vera and lucky bamboo. I have some plants (fuchsia and impatiens) that I want to propagate for next year. Is there a tutorial you can point me to?

The main project for me this fall is a cold frame. The south/west side of my cottage is in full sun most of the time in winter. One year I planted a Lemon Verbena next to the house and it lived through one winter, but didn't make it the second winter which was colder. The space I plan to use is at the moment covered with a tangle of ivy, lemon balm, and vinca that needs to be removed. I plan to dig out as much as possible and then lay down cardboard and start with fall leaves and then compost and then winter any plants in pots. My cottage is very small and there is very little space for indoor plants. So things like the tender herbs and scented geraniums usually end up on the compost pile. This way maybe I can keep them longer. I am thinking about building the cold frame with dry stacked concrete blocks and using old window frames for the lid. I figured if I dry stack the blocks, if it ever needs to be moved this would make it easier. At least this is the plan at the moment. I have a new Lemon Verbena and since I have never been able to winter one inside, the cold frame will give me a chance to keep one growing longer.
Kat

I have a few plants I want to move once the temps get cooler (and not just for one day, lol!). This fall I also hope to plant a whole bunch of flowers in the new bed (where the apple tree used to be). I haven't found the plants I want locally, so I may have to break down and order, which I have never done before.
CMK

Jen, before I had a small greenhouse to keep plants, I kept cuttings and potted epiphyllums in front of east windows in an unheated utility room which does not drop below 45 degrees.

Some long stemmed cuttings, including alternanthera, porterweed and impatiens can be kept in water in bright light over the winter. The water will get nasty and needs to be changed now and then. By spring, they drop most of their leaves and I cut off the little top leaves that are left with a piece of stem and root in a soilless mix in time to plant out. It's an exercise in propagation. You'd probably rather buy a single impatiens plant in spring and root cuttings off it.

Some cuttings must be rooted and potted before cold weather and kept in greenhouse-like conditions. Rooted wax begonias were the easiest and prettiest things that I kept over last winter.

There are many how-tos on the web, just google for rooting cuttings. Tom put an excellent tutorial here in early spring on making and using a propagation box.

Nell

Rosewitch, love your zone, lol!

Fall plans ... turn off the a/c, open doors and windows, enjoy the screened porch again ... at the table in the morning with the newspaper and a cup of joe and in the evening in a rocker with a glass of wine. Let the kitties have total freedom to come & go from the house to the porch with the open French doors and just be grateful that the long, hot summer is history!

I'm in trouble this fall. You know those projects that you put off year after year becuase they cost a fortune.....well, we have someone coming to prepare our backyard for planting. That part of the cost is not too, too bad, but I didn't put myself on a budget for the planting material! LOL!!

My DH will be putting in a nice lawn (we do find grass is a good foil to gardens) and there will be a very large area available to me for planting! I have already made my list of about 40 shrubs to either relocate or plant (I've been collecting knowing this project was taking place this year) and then I have a bunch of trees on hold at a nursery for early fall delivery. I'm a little scared because planting trees is always a little tricky when it comes to placement and I don't have much of a plan yet. I'll probably have about 10 to plant. I plan to layer shrubs underneath them. If I get the gusto to divide my daylilies I'll move a bunch of them to that area as well. I'm sure as the summer moves along I'll come up with many more perennials to move back there too.

Nell, what do you mean the Crocosmia dug itself out of the ground? I'm pretty new to Corcosmia so I'm curious about that.

CMK, what plants are you looking to put in? Are they specialty and that's why you can't find them locally?

...grew itself out of the ground, crocosmia. If you've ever looked at crocosmia bulbs, each year a new bulb grows on top the old bulb and the old bulb eventually shrivels and dies. In a few years, the bulbs have risen to the top of the ground. Meantime, crocosmia is also sending out stolons and new bulbs are forming on the stolons, also near the top of the ground. Eventually they stop blooming.

Nell

natal,
I had forgotten about that zone entry! I was updating my profile soon after Spike sold gardenweb and the site was giving me fits. It wouldn't keep my info and I finally just typed outdoors and shut everything down. Wouldn't you know that time it took? So I left it like that and never looked back. My true zone is 7a or b; whichever is right for the Mid-Atlantic just a few miles from the ocean in DE. The winters here are more and more very mild with maybe a few weeks of freezing temp. or we get one with the terrible ice storm that ripped through here back in the early 90's. It's never boring!
Kat

-thyme2dig, I am still making decisions as to what to put in the area. I am having a frustrating time with it, since the area is in full sun. Now, if I see an open space in a shade area there are eight things that come to mind at once, but if there is space in a full sun area I am at a total loss...

I suppose if I searched more I might find most of the things on my list locally, but sometimes I just get so tierd of driving around everywhere just to find out that they are out of that particular plant I need. I do plan to call a few nurseries first to see if they have the needed items so I (hopefully) won't have to order quite as much.
There are only a couple of plants/specific cultivars that one would be hard pressed to find in a nursery here, like Cephalaria gigantea, Omphalodes verna 'Elfenauge' (still don't know much about this cultivar), and Polygonatum involucratum 'Green Hankies'. I don't really need that Polygonatum, but this plant is haunting my dreams. I must have it, lol!
CMK

"I notice that most of the responses on this thread have been from those of us with very hot summers. Wonder if those who garden further north feel the same longing for Fall's relief?"

Zone 3 here in the more temperate north and our high today is 55°F so I'm more tempted to light a fire in the stove - seems like fall already. It's pouring rain for the 2nd day which is good because I'm tired of watering my increasing garden continuously. I know we'll get some heat and drought again before September frosts. A really hot day here is 95°F.

Fall will be a time when I continue to move the plants I have to the new beds and those yet to be tilled and amended. Not sure what I want to add. Trying to keep things simpler in the garden so I'm not a slave to it. Planning to leave more space between plants and mulch heavily.

I'd like to plant bulbs as I've avoided them because of squirrels/chipmunks - have a roll of chicken wire so might use that to foil the critters. I also will be looking for easy care large perennial plants such as Joe Pye and Goatsbeard. Will scatter perennial seeds in various places in the garden.

We'll be traveling in September and October so gardening will be a bit here and there. Gives me a good opportunity to visit different plant nurseries so I always come home with something new and not necessarily what I plan.

Sounds like we all will be busy.

I'm going to divide and move some perennials from my cutting garden into a bed in the front of my house. They were last minute purchases that did not turn out to be good prospects for cutting flowers.

And, I am going to direct seed various annuals to see if they overwinter, and I can get a head start on cutting flowers next Spring.

Teresa

Well, I don't have any major plans for fall. Usually by then I'm ready for a break! Dh *has* suggested that if we can get the tree guy to cut down the ailing wahoo tree, we could start the 6th veggie bed. Besides that, I'll probably wait until spring to do much of anything, except possibly add some bulbs.

"What are your plans for the fall?"

Fall? I think it's already here. It's barely 70º here today. It was so cool this morning I had a light sweater on when I made my garden rounds. It's so cool the foxglove are blooming again. It's so cool I had hot cocoa instead of juice with breakfast. : ) We've had a few warm days in the 80s but we always return to the 60-70s. Even the L.A. basin and interior valleys have temps below normal. Maybe summer will come next month?

Besides vacation, I do have a few fall plans that include moving several roses, planting several trees and hopefully picking lots of apples. Which will mean lots of pies, cobblers, sauces . . . mmmmm, maybe I am looking forward to fall. : )

Diana

Over 100º today; watering like crazy due to my not watering the last three days. Elephant ears are melting, grass has swooned; ajuga is at the door begging for a drink ~ guess you get the picture. I am very hungry for cooler weather. The surprised rain shower got as close as two miles to my place, then petered out, dang it! Put me into a funk.
Got over that one today and life goes on.
So for Fall, yes, I look to cooler temperatures; rains; replacing a shrub or two. I transplanted a few spider lilies, looking forward to them coming up. Love pansies, they make it here throughout the winter months.

Like others in warm areas I'm already fed up with Summer and long for the cooler days of Fall. Fall is actually my favorite season in the garden, so after the Summer heat I'm always more than willing to do some changes around.

My plans for this year include a major overhaul of my side passage, with the more than probable removal of two bottlebush shrubs (see my thread on that, ideas more than welcome) and general tidying up of that area. I'm considering adding a winterberry to the spot where a plant has died and which I haven't replanted yet. In other area of the garden I'm planning to continue my never ending quest for Fall and Winter interest and I'm planning to add a fothergilla. Anyone has experience with that, good or bad?

I also want to do a little sowing for my porch chairs and bench in keeping with the season. I have some beautiful Scottish tartan in subdued colors I plan to turn into cushion covers and a table runner for the furniture in the back porch. Add a couple potted mums in similar colors for harmony. Probably hang another basket in the back porch, symetric to the one I have recently added and which has cascading fuschia - really loving that at the moment. Considering adding two further hanging baskets to the front porch. So far I have resisted the urge, because it faces West and it's so difficult to keep baskets watered in hot weather here, but come Fall I guess I'll stop fighting, as I love the look of hanging baskets with cascading flowers...

Planning of yanking out two hebes in the back garden which have outgrown their space and replace them with another type of shrub, probably pieris or rosemary. Plant some crocuses, as I don't have any in the garden. Pruning a lot of the shrubs that are indeed in need of it. The list goes on and on... And don't get me started on Christmas, LOL!

Eduarda

"I also want to do a little sowing for my porch chairs and bench in keeping with the season."

Of course what I meant was "I also want to do a little sewing"...

Eduarda

I ordered tulips a couple of weeks ago and yesterday I shovel pruned nine modern roses to make room. Looking forward to Spring already.

I'll be collecting lots of leaves for the final layer of my lasagna garden.

I have a bunch of plants that need dividing.

Maybe I'll actually do fall cleanup this year.