Preparing Your Utah Garden for the Frost
As summer winds down, it’s time to shift your focus to fall gardening tasks. Here at Glover Nursery, September and October are crucial months for setting up your garden for success through winter and into spring.
Note: This page is intended only for early fall gardening tips. We have a separate gardening guide for late fall.
Early Fall Tree Care
For your trees, now’s the perfect opportunity to give them some extra care. After the leaves have fallen, apply copper fungicides to your fruit trees to prevent diseases. Clean up any fallen fruit or debris in your orchard to deter pests.
If you’re looking to add new trees, fall is an ideal time for planting. The cooler weather reduces stress on young trees, allowing them to establish strong root systems.
Here are some tips for protecting newly planted trees:
- Add a 2-4 inch layer of mulch around the base (but not touching the trunk)
- Wrap young tree trunks with white tree wrap to prevent sunscald
- Hold off on major pruning until spring, with a few exceptions
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Flower Bed Care in the Early Fall
Your flower beds and shrubs need attention, too. While it’s still warm, pick up some spring-flowering bulbs to plant later when temperatures cool down.
September offers a great selection of perennials (such as mums and asters) to add instant color to your garden. Consider planting hardy annuals like pansies and ornamental kale for extended blooms.
| Task 1  Add compost to existing beds | Task 2  Remove diseased or pest-infested plants | Task 3  Divide and relocate perennials | Task 4  Choose shrubs with attractive fall foliage |
Pro Tip: After the first hard frost, dig up tender bulbs like gladiolus and dahlias. Let them dry for a couple of weeks, dust them with sulfur, and store them in vermiculite (an amendment that helps trap nutrients in the soil) in a cool, dry place.
Early Fall Pond Care Checklist
If you have a pond or water feature in your garden, you’ll need to prepare it for colder weather by winterizing it:
- Remove floating plants like water hyacinth
- Take out or store tropical plants indoors
- Stop fertilizing pond plants in early September
- Clean out dead leaves and debris
- Consider covering with a net to keep out falling leaves
- Cut back dormant plants and sink them to the deepest part of the pond
Early Fall Lawn Care
Your lawn needs some TLC this time of year, too. Top-dress with quality compost and aerate if you didn’t do so in spring.
Keep the lawn clear of fallen leaves and apply weed killers as needed, especially for persistent weeds like field bindweed. Here are three of the most important lawn care tasks to carry out:
 Apply pre-emergent herbicide to prevent annual weeds |  Fertilize with a slow-release or winterizer formula |  Adjust watering schedule: September: 3/4″ every 4-6 days October: 3/4″ every 6-9 days
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Key Takeaways
Taking these early fall gardening tips to heart means setting your Utah garden up for a strong finish to the growing season (late fall). You’ll also get a healthy start come next spring!
Remember to choose plants with great fall color to enjoy a vibrant landscape as the temperatures drop. With a bit of effort now, you’ll reap the rewards of a well-maintained garden throughout the changing seasons.
