1. Decide which plants to keep and which to get rid of
This is a tricky one considering summer annuals here in Zone 9 will survive up until the first frost. Perhaps you'll consider keeping your annual herbs and throwing out the veggies. Or maybe you'll cut back your tomato plants now for last fall harvest.
Whichever you decide, though, the toughest issue gardeners have is deciding whether or not to keep their perennial plants. Even if they're established and in great condition, many gardeners want a fresh start for their garden bed or even a new design as the next season approaches.
If this is you, consider digging up your perennials and repotting them. Be sure not to disturb or rip the roots too, too much and to do this process when it's cool outside (early morning or later afternoon). Also, don't forget to water your transplants thoroughly after repotting them to prevent/reduce transplant shock.
2. Begin de-weeding those beds
And the dreading begins. Just kidding - It's not all that bad! If you garden bed is covered with weeds, our best advice is to take it day-by-day. For us, our main problem is Bermuda grass (We used to have grass in that area but had it ripped out and replaced with a garden bed). So pesty! Our goal is to fill up a large bucket of weeds daily, at least, to ensure we eventually get the garden de-weeded plenty in time for fall planting. P.S. Hand tillers make great weed-pullers and help to loosen up the soil around the weeds!
Sure autumn isn't for about a month and a half from now, but start de-weeding now! If it can't be done in a day or two, especially if you're a busy person, make a goal, and stick with it. You'll thank us later.
3. Prep your soil
If you're gardening in the fall, it's likely you did so in the summer as well. If there were any "bad patches" of soil in your garden bed this season, figure out and work out the problem to avoid such issues for the next season's garden.
Test your soil, consider composting, and even look into some organic fertilizers or plant foods if you tend to have bad soil or bad luck with a successful harvest. If your bed is rocky, dry, or unlevel, start working it now. Try a hand tiller to break up dry areas.
4. Have pets? Consider a fence/blockade around your garden bed
Cats, dogs, goats, whatever you own, as much as we love them, they just can't "do their business" in our garden beds, dig up our garden, or even munch on our plants - It's just too much! I mean, who knew our beloved, furry friends could become pests?
Luckily, there's hope. Consider a low fence or some type of blockade to keep the animals out of the garden. Just ensure this fence or whatever you deide to use isn't too tall as the taller it is, the more sun it will block from your garden bed at certain times of the day.
You can also look into container gardening or raised garden beds, which are great in keeping your pets out, that's for sure. If you'd rather stick to your current garden bed, make it a habit now to "train" your pets to stay out of the garden bed, even when there's nothing planted in there for them to ruin. It's also a good idea to keep catnip out of the garden bed if your fellow kitty friends aren't allowed into your garden. Keep these in containers, trust us!
5. Start deciding which plants you'll consider growing
It's not necessarily a matter of what exactly you plant on planting in your garden bed, but a matter of what types of things you want to plant. For example, maybe you want to go a bit more drought tolerant and stick with only edible or low-water plants and ditch the flowers, maybe you want to plant mostly flowers, or maybe you want only perennials in your garden bed from now on.
Do you plan to plant root crops like onions and radishes? Trailing or spreading plants? Do you have limited space? Are you adding container gardens to your yard this year to ensure more space? The questions go on and on. Do your research on certain plants you wish to have in your fall garden to make sure they're suitable space-wise, are easy enough to grow for you, and meet your general standards as a gardener.
6. Come up with a garden bed design
Now that you have in mind what types of plants you'll be growing and have some research done, it's a good idea to design your bed. If you're growing low-bearing plants such as root crops, consider putting those in the beginning of the garden bed to ensure they won't be blocked out by taller plants.
Decide which sections will contain the vegetables and which will contain the herbs. Maybe you'll decide to contain your herb plants and only add veggie plants to your bed. Keep your bed organized, especially if it's large, but at the same time, make it rational. The full sun plants will need to be in a spot that's sufficient, the larger plants should be placed in the back where they can't block out the smaller plants, and so on. Keep those things in mind.
Rather than going for specifics and saying, "I'm going to plant broccoli and cauliflower in the first row. Then I will plant romaine, buttercrunch lettuce, and kale in the third row on the right hand side," sometimes it's best to just plan on planting root crops and smaller lettuces in the front row or two, and planting everything else in the back and of course deciding how to properly keep your vegetable and herb plants organized in a way that seems right to you. Remember, sometimes our garden bed doesn't turn out the way we want it too, and that's okay. You don't always have to be precise and plan where every little plant will be placed.
7. Patiently wait for the perfect time to plant in your fall garden
If you're from or around the area of Visalia, California, we sell plants year 'round at the Visalia Farmers' Market in the Sears' Parking lot every Saturday from 8-11:30 a.m.! You can pick up many great plants from us for your warmer or cooler-weather garden to save you the stress of knowing the right time to plant cool season seeds and of course saving your patience for waiting for the seeds to germinate and grow to a transplantable size.
Good luck on your preparation!
