There's work to do in the yard and garden in the fall season in Siouxland

“Things like aerating your lawn, fertilizing your lawn to get those roots ready for next year and then up against the house you want to go ahead and insulate your perennials. Cover them up with mulch, anything like that, roses especially,” said Robert Sopher, landscape consultant at Earl May Garden Center on Gordon Drive.

“So in the fall you are basically just kind of preparing your landscape to make it through the winter.”

Fall is the time to get out those clippers and trim shrubs and bushes into shape.

“Make sure those shrubs are ready to start growing right away next spring. If they are trimmed and ready, you’ll get the desired shape and size,” Sopher said.

But leave those lilac bushes alone.

“Actually you are supposed to trim those in the springtime right when they get done flowering because they do put their buds out in the fall. So if you go in and trim those off you won’t get your flowers.”

Delicate tubers in your garden like canna lilies need some attention.

“Go ahead and make sure you get those dug up and put them in a warm place.”

Perfect time for planting

Those early spring flowering bulbs, tulips, crocus, daffodil, should be planted in the fall, Sopher said.

But fall is also a good time to add trees, shrubs and other plantings to your landscape.

“Ground temperatures are perfectly fine. We’ve still got a couple months for things to get established especially grass,” Sopher said. “Right now is the perfect time to make sure you get grass planted.”

Moles savaged many yards around Sioux City this year.

“Moles were a big problem this year. That’s all I heard moles, moles, moles,” he said.

“So if you have a situation where you had to kill off a different type of grass in your yard or you have mole patches, now is the perfect time to go head.”

But don’t just start tossing grass seed on that dirt. Preparation is key to getting a beautiful lush green yard.

“There’s a few things that really matter when you are laying your new lawn seed. Go ahead and get that old grass or those old weeds out of there. Lay a nice layer of top soil. Make sure you have a good lawn fertilizer to start with. Take straw to go over top to keep it in place. Water two to three times a day,” Sopher said.

He recommended keeping the lawn moist but not soaking wet and making sure there is good seed to soil contact.

“That’s going to give you the best success. There is preparation to that. “

Fall lawn care to-do list

“This is the most important time to focus on mowing, fertilizing, aerating, weed control and seeding. The work you do on your lawn in the fall helps it recover from the stress of summer and prepares it for winter, allowing it to look its best next spring,” said Aaron Steil, Iowa State University Department of Horticulture.

Even though the turf grass stops growing in the late fall, the roots continue to absorb and utilize nutrients.

“An application of fertilizer in late October or early November helps promote root growth and early green-up the following spring. Apply one pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet,” Steil said.

Winterize your landscape

Sopher said to remember to bring in hoses and do any preparation to see that the outdoor plumbing is ready for the winter temperatures.

If you have a new tree, protect it from hungry rabbits by wrapping the bottom of the trunk in a plastic sleeve.

Rabbits will chew around the bottom of a young trunk effectively killing the tree.

You should also be careful not to fertilize plants too late in the season.

“Once your plants start going dormant they aren’t soaking up that fertilizer,” Sopher said the nitrogen not absorbed will burn the roots of plants.

Fall is a good time to plant that tree or ornamental grass.

“People please plant oak trees. It is the native tree in Iowa, the burr oak. Any oak is a big beautiful shade tree. It’s perfect for Iowa’s weather, perfect for surrounding nature and it is definitely the best one. It is so hard to get people to plant them because they are planting it for the next generation,” Sopher said. “The payoff in the end of is worth it for everybody.”

Ornamental grasses offer so many different colors and textures. “You can have nice little edge pieces walking up your walkway. Fescue grass is great to add a splash of blue.

“Size, shape color you can do anything with them .the best part is they are so incredibly tough and they come back so well, most of them do.”