At our farm, the sound of gobbling turkeys signals that spring is in full swing. Plant life is changing too; tiny, bright green leaves are appearing on shrubs and some early wildflowers are beginning to bloom. Our seeds, which have been stored in cool moist storage in the fridge for one to three months to simulate a mild Colorado winter, are being moved to trays for germination in the greenhouse. It’s an exciting time!
If you’re a gardener, you might be itching to get native plants in the ground this time of year, as you would for many vegetable crops and ornamental flowers. However, when it comes to planting native plant plugs in the southwest, we are big proponents of fall plantings (seeds are another story – look for another blog post about seeding soon!). When I worked on restoration projects in New Mexico, we opted for fall plantings due to several benefits:
Fewer Initial Inputs
Perennial plants live for more than one growing season and will go dormant over the winter. If you plant in the fall, you will only need to water the plant when transplanting, and then twice a week until first frost. The plants won’t require any supplemental water over the winter. As most weedy species will be late in their life cycle, you will also spend less time managing competing weeds.
Plant Vigor
Planting tender seedlings in the fall means they will miss the hottest part of the year and be subjected to milder temperatures. This will help ease their transition from the cushy greenhouse setting to life in the field. In fall, plants will invest more growth into their roots instead of above-ground growth to prepare for winter dormancy. Then, once the winter is through, fall-planted seedlings can begin root growth in the spring at their pace, before you would typically be able to outplant. This extends the growing season and improves first year survival and growth 1.
We hope you enjoy the beautiful spring season! If we’ve convinced you that fall planting might work for you, there’s still a lot you can do for your pollinator garden as temperatures warm up. It’s a great time to make a species list, create a planting plan, or do some site prep to maximize your transplanting success in the fall.
References
- Dumroese, R. Kasten; Landis, Thomas D.; Luna, Tara. 2021. Raising native plants in nurseries: basic concepts. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-274. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 84 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-274
