Whether you’re spreading grass seed on your lawn, adding wildflowers to a meadow or creating a perennial garden, fall is the best time to plant. It mimics nature’s way of dropping seed heads at the end of the season, offering a head start on growth in the spring.

Instead of waiting to plant until the ground thaws in the spring and you can work the soil (which for us can sometimes mean April or May), adding plants and bulbs in the fall gives them a jump-start on growth. Once the ground thaws, these varieties will start to pop up, resulting in larger plants and earlier blooms than if planted in the spring.

Water conservation is a hot topic in recent years and we try to do everything we can to limit the amount of water needed. Fall planting does just this – by planting in colder weather, it helps to eliminate evaporation on the plants and the shorter days slows the process of photosynthesis down, meaning your new plants need less water.

The colder planting weather in fall also causes less stress on your plants, allowing the root systems to comfortably establish themselves in your garden, giving them the best chance for success.

If you love spring-bloomers such as daffodils and tulips, these varieties actually require a wintering-over period in order to bloom. So this fall, spend an afternoon planting bulbs (it’s really easy – we promise) and you’ll be rewarded with weeks of blooms in the spring.