Fall is one of the best times to up your curb appeal and create a welcoming yard and garden for all your family and friends. Updating your planters and containers for fall is easy, can be done in an afternoon, and can last well into the holiday season. Fall creates a whole new gardening personality… one that is more laid back and sleepy, but also electrified with color and texture. It’s almost as if Mother Nature wants one last dip in the pool before the summer sun sets for the cold winter. And she brings the margarita mix. Gotta love that.

 

3 Steps to Easy Fall Containers

Step One: Add foliage. When your existing containers get tired, nothing perks them up like a fresh foliage plant. Adding a foliage plant to help the eye “rest” is key in this season where everything can look busy. Foliage will also carry farther into the colder weather, extending your containers’ season. Our favs? Ornamental Kale is always a winner, but so are various types of ivy, lamium, and dusty miller. If you grow lambs ear (or any other foliage perennial for that matter) in the garden, now is a great time to divide it and plant some divisions in your pots. Hardy herbs can also be a great idea at this time of year. You may have some plants from the earlier season that can stay in place and contribute here too… don’t be too quick to boot out a plant just because it isn’t flowering.

Step Two: Add filler flowers. This is where you add the sparkle! Pop in some festive fall annuals here, mums, pansies, asters, zinnias… You don’t need a bunch here, just choose one or two you love! And don’t skimp. Your plants won’t have much growing time to fill in, so tuck them pretty close together to give them a designer look. This time of year, you can either choose to stay with one or two colors for a calmer color scheme, or go all out and make it a fall fiesta.

Step Three: Add texture. Ornamental grasses are a great bargain this time of year, and are usually on clearance. Pick up a few container size varieties to add texture, height and structure to your fall container garden. Make sure you plant the taller grasses in the back of the container.

Tips:

You will need to clean out the old summer annuals from your old containers. Pull out a few new containers if the budget allows. This is a great time of year for re purposed containers as well… a planted wheelbarrow or old tins buckets just hints at the hard work that went into the garden harvest!

When cleaning out the the old plants, don’t be shy about getting those packed in roots out of there. Use a sharp knife if necessary. Add additional fresh soil when you place the new plants into the containers, and pack lightly. Water.

What’s your opinion? Can’t wait to decorate the yard for fall, and usher in those holiday festivities with style? Or do you think its a waste of time… those flowers are just going to die anyway? (We’re hoping you pick the first one!)