Fall is the time to take stock of your shrubs' health and prep them for the winter ahead, especially if you live in a colder clime. Tom Smiley, aboriculture researcher at Bartlett Tree Experts, offers advice.
10 Ways to Care for Your Shrubs This Fall
1. Inspect
As your trees begin to turn those charming fall colors, Smiley says, look for early or uneven fall color or defoliation—both could be signs of potential problems such as nutrient deficiencies, disease, and insects. Mushrooms aren't usually a problem unless they're in clumps near trunks, which might be a sign of root rot and decay.
2. Have Your Soil Analyzed
Fall is a very good time to evaluate your soil, so collect samples for nutrient analysis. If there's an imbalance in your lawn, you'll then be able to apply the appropriate fertilizer. For example, if your soil has a nitrogen deficiency, a slow-release fertilizer will get into soil over the winter and then release in the spring.
3. Mulch
Mulch now to trap warmth and buy your shrubs a bit more time to grow and take up water and nutrients. Over the winter, mulch provides protection and helps reduce drying. Mulching is particularly important for new plantings and old shrubs. Smiley recommends using organic materials such as wood chips or bark as mulch around shrubs.
Distribution is important: You want no mulch right at the stem, and then a gradual increase of 1- to 2-inches thickness as you move out toward the drip line (the outer projection of the crown). What Smiley calls "volcano mulching"—laying a large mound of mulch at the shrub's base—traps moisture and can lead to rot and disease.
4. Spray Leaves—Maybe
Some gardeners like to use antidesiccant sprays—chemicals intended to keep leaves from dehydrating. But, Smiley says, "very little research shows that antidesiccant leaf sprays are effective." They will add gloss to leaves, if that's important to you. Some deer repellents include an antidesiccant, so you may want to try a spray if deer are a problem in your garden.
5. Look for Pests
Pests can still be a problem even as the weather turns cooler. Cool-season mites can be quite damaging, as are spider mites and hemlock wooly adelgids. And then there are nuisance pests such as stink bugs, kudzu bugs, and box elder bugs, all of which are attracted by shrubbery. If you have a problem, call in a professional for an assessment.
6. Transplant Now
"Fall is a great time for transplanting many trees and shrubs," Smiley says. "You get a much higher success rate." That's because the plant doesn't need to support leaves in the fall, but the roots will still grow a little.
Still, you must be careful. In some regions, such as the Northeast, there are some plants that don't like being moved in the fall—they're called "fall planting hazards." Smiley recommends contacting your local extension office for a list of such plants before you move anything.
7. Protect
Consider protecting shrubs that are subjected to high winds, southwest sun, or salt—from the ocean or the road—Smiley says. That goes especially for smooth-barked new transplants, which can be injured by frost crack. Wrap the trunk with paper, polypropylene, or burlap trunk wrap—you can buy all of these at most hardware stores. Protect foliage with a material such as burlap. You can take the DIY route and make a windshield by hammering stakes into the ground and stapling on the material, or by wrapping the shrub in burlap entirely and securing it with twine. Another option is a commercial product like Shrub Coat.
Remove coverings in early spring before the shrub starts growing—you'll damage the branches if you leave the twine on. Finally, newly transplanted shrubs with a large crown and small root system may need to be staked to keep them upright during winter winds.
8. Tie Branches
If you've experienced branch break in the past (it's often caused by heavy snow loads), tie up your shrubs with twine. Start by tying on a low branch, and spiral up the shrub, gently folding up the branches as you go. Smiley recommends this technique particularly for delicate shrubs such as arbor vitae and juniper.
9. Prune
There are three types of pruning you should do in the fall, Smiley says. First, prune branches that died over the summer. Second, do structural pruning for things like co-dominant stems. Third, prune for size reduction, unless you have old-growth shrubs with flowers on the old growth. In that case, wait until after flowering is finished.
Also, if you shear a hedge before the first frost, you can cause injury to the plant. "Buds produce the hormone that tells the plant it's winter and it should be dormant," Smiley says. If you cut off all those buds, you're basically disabling the plant's inner clock.
10. Learn
Do some research before you plant new shrubbery. "Shrub selection process should be based on what the plant can tolerate," Smiley says. Sometimes a warm summer prompts homeowners to plant shrubs well outside of their habitable zones, where they are much too fragile to last through winter.
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