It’s been a warm, dry fall… water, water, water. Normally by now you have been able to cut back on watering. Not the case this year. As I type this, I believe we have gone 31 days without a drop of rain here in Lynchburg.
Here’s a few notes on the impact of a warm dry fall and what you should be doing now!
Pansies? How are your summer flowers looking? We have had some patchy frost but no hard killing frost or freeze yet. As a result, many summer flowers such as Geraniums and SunPatiens are still looking good! While it’s hard to bring yourself pull up the last of summer’s blooms, now’s the time to plant pansies! The sooner you get your Pansies planted, the better they will look in the winter months. Pansies like cold weather but don’t grow much on these frigid winter days! Planted in the fall, Pansies should thrive all winter, into spring, and occasionally until early summer! Need a refresher on how to care for pansies? Click here!
Grass Seed: Newly planted grass is in desperate need of watering. We’ve had just enough morning dews to make grass seed start germinating in some yards – without water that seed will not amount to anything. Give your lawn a slow soaking watering (turn your sprinkler on and let it run for a 2-3 hours) every 5 to 7 days. All that said, if we can get some rain and the weather stays slightly warm you are in the perfect window of opportunity to plant grass!
Newly planted trees/shrubs: Fall is considered the ideal time for planting trees and shrubs! They have time to get their roots established before winter without the stress of summer heat. Similar to grass, newly planted trees and shrubs are desperate for water this fall… Also similar to grass, trees and shrubs do best when given a slow soaking watering less frequently vs. a quick blast every day. Your goal is to soak the plant to the bottom of the root ball.
