6 Tips For a Thriving Fall Garden

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For a lot of folks, gardening season ends with summer. It doesn’t have to, though. Fall is the perfect time to plant another round of cool season crops and get another big haul of homegrown produce before winter.

In the fall months, insect pests are dwindling down instead of ramping up. The weather tends to be more stable, so you don’t need to worry as much about a hailstorm or a late freeze walloping fragile seedlings. Also, cool season crops that mature into falling temperatures instead of the summer heat are less likely to bolt on you. If you’re like me and struggle to grow broccoli heads instead of broccoli flowers in the spring, fall planting might be the solution!

With winter on the horizon, some good planning and preparation is in order to make sure your fall crops thrive and reach maturity in time. Keeping these six guidelines in mind will help you get the most payoff for all your work.

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1. Choose the Best Crops and Varieties

What will produce the best harvest for you in the fall depends on your climate and your average first frost date. You’ll want to choose crops and varieties that can tolerate your fall weather and/or have time to reach maturity before conditions get too rough.

What Can You Plant in the Fall?

Unless you’re in a climate zone where temperatures and sunlight don’t change much over the seasons, many summer fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers, okra, and melons won’t have time to produce much (if at all) before cold weather comes. These crops need a long stretch of consistently warm weather and lots of sun to thrive. Even if you live further south and don’t get frost, the reduced sunlight and cooler nights will stunt their growth.   

Cool season crops that can deal with a bit less sun and regular temperature drops grow better in the fall garden. Some good candidates include:

-Brassicas like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts

-Root vegetables like beets, carrots, radishes, and rutabagas.

-Hardy brassica-family greens like collards, kale, and mustard

-Other cold-tolerant greens like Bok choy, Pac choy, spinach, Swiss chard, arugula, Mache, and many varieties of lettuce.   

-Cold-tolerant herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, thyme, sage, rosemary, and chives. 

Since potato plants are fairly cold-tolerant and can deal with a light frost, some gardeners like to plant a second round of potatoes for fall. Early-season potato varieties are best for the fall garden.

If you have reliably warm weather throughout early fall, you could squeeze in a second planting of quick-maturing summer crops like bush beans, cucumbers, and summer squash.

Want some color? Some annual flowers that don’t mind cooler temperatures include marigolds, nasturtiums, calendula, snapdragons, pansies, and borage. The last two can even survive light frosts and keep blooming.

Growing the Right Varieties for Your Climate

Once you start growing cool season crops in both shoulder seasons, you’ll find that certain varieties fare well when planted in the spring but tend to struggle in the fall, and vice versa. For example, heat-tolerant cabbage varieties meant to withstand a hot early summer might not handle the cold as well as others.

When buying seeds for your fall garden, think about the weather you expect throughout the fall months and read up on which varieties can deal with it best. Some cool season veggie varieties can resist freezing temperatures down into the teens, while others may take damage below 30 F or so.   

Days to maturity is another important factor to look at when deciding which fall vegetable varieties to plant. Since a lot of us are working with a smaller window between the end of summer heat and the beginning of winter, faster-maturing options are always a safe bet. Even very cold-tolerant crops won’t give you the best results, if they’re not close to harvest time when the light gets too low.  

The days to maturity can vary a ton between different varieties of the same crop. Using cabbage as an example again, some varieties will head up within 60 days, while others take up to 120.   

2. Consider Starting Slower-Growing Crops from Transplants

Starting certain crops indoors instead of sowing seeds in the garden can give you a head start for fall vegetables that take longer to mature. It also gives you the means to protect fragile seedlings from the summer heat.

Heading brassicas like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower particularly benefit from the controlled temperatures indoors while young, since these seeds need to be sown around late summer for a fall crop. For a lot of us, it’s still sweltering hot out at that time of year. Seedlings exposed to too much heat will grow overly tall and spindly, and the plants may bolt instead of forming a head.

You can also start greens like Swiss chard, lettuce, and Bok choy indoors in seedling trays, as well as annual flowers.

If you don’t have time to start from seed, you can also buy seedlings. Look for smaller transplants, since overgrown ones with crammed roots are likely to go straight to flowering instead of producing a harvest. Sometimes, healthy seedlings are a little harder to find for the fall season. We have the best luck checking at smaller nurseries and the local co-op.

Can You Start Root Vegetables Indoors?

Root vegetables like carrots and beets usually do best when direct-sown. Some gardeners start them indoors in small seedling cells, then transplant the plugs while they’re still really small. The idea is to get a more evenly-planted row without the need for thinning after the seedlings sprout. I like to stick with direct sowing, since my direct-sown root veggies always produce bigger roots than any I’ve tried to transplant.    

3. Check Sunlight Availability From Planting to Harvest

This might not be a problem, if your garden is out in an open space. However, if it’s close to your house, or if you have woods, hedges, or other buildings nearby, double check to make sure you won’t have any unexpected shady spots later in the season.

Unless you live on or near the equator, the sun’s path will change from one season to another. Our garden gets full sun all throughout the spring and summer months, since the sun passes directly or near-directly overhead. Closer to fall, the sun’s path shifts much closer to the nearby woods line. About half of our garden is in nearly full shade by mid-October, and it happens quickly!

While many cool-season crops can tolerate a bit less light and still produce a good harvest, an hour and a half of sun per day just won’t cut it for any type of vegetable.

If you’re new to fall gardening and you’re not positive about what your sun coverage will look like later in the season, you can make a simple sun map of your garden space. There’s a handful of free (or free trial) sun-tracking apps that’ll show you how the sun’s position will move from month to month.    

4. Re-Amend Soil Where Heavy-Feeding Summer Crops Were Grown

Chances are, you’ll need to reuse some garden space where summer crops were grown to plant your fall vegetables. Some summer crops, like tomatoes and squash, can really suck up a lot of nutrients. They’ll leave the soil a bit stripped after they’re pulled.

To make sure your fall crops have access to enough nutrients, you’ll need to re-amend to replace what was used by previous crops. I’ll usually put down a little fresh compost before replanting beds where heavy feeders were grown. Then, I’ll add a side dressing of organic fertilizer such as blood meal or bone meal as soon as I put my fall seedlings in. You could also spread some organic granular fertilizer on the entire bed.

The amount of amending you’ll need to do depends on your soil’s condition and the crop you plan to grow next. Did your summer crops have symptoms of nutrient deficiency? If so, some heavier amending for fall plantings may be in order. If not, a little fertilizer per plant might be all you need.

See this post to learn about using organic fertilizers in your garden: Fertilizing Your Garden Organically: The Basics + Some Natural Fertilizer Options.

When possible, it also helps to plant your fall crops strategically, based on their nutrient needs and what was grown previously. For crops that need a lot of nitrogen, like heading brassicas and leafy greens, pick a spot where a less demanding crop like beans or peas was last planted. Plant your root vegetables following heavy feeders, since these don’t need as much nutrients.

5. Nail Your Planting Times

Timing is always the tricky part, when you’re growing those finicky cool season crops. If you plant your fall veggies too early in late summer, they may struggle to cope with the heat. Too late, and they won’t have enough time to mature before winter sets in.

Start by looking at the days to maturity on the varieties you plan to plant. Then, count back those days from your average first frost date to get an idea of the timeframe you’re looking at.

Frost-Sensitive Crops: Any fall-planted warm weather crops like beans, summer squash, and cucumbers will need to be finished up before the first frost.

Cool Season Crops: Since cool season crops can tolerate cold temperatures, the goal generally isn’t to harvest before the first frost. However, they should be somewhat close to maturity at that point, since growth will slow down to a crawl as the days get colder and shorter.

If you have a milder end to summer and your winter sets in quickly, you may want to start cool-season veggies earlier ahead of that first frost date. If you have a hot early fall followed by light frosts and warm afternoons through November, you may want to start a bit later to dodge the heat.

Remember that day length still has a big impact on plant growth, even in areas that don’t experience frost. Plan to get your harvests in before you’re well into the winter months!

Timing your fall garden is definitely one of those “practice makes perfect” things. The most important part is making sure slower-maturing crops have enough time to finish up. Don’t stress it too much, and keep notes in your garden journal on how things went and whether any adjustments need to be made to your fall planting schedule.     

6. Plan for Heat and Cold Protection

No matter how thoroughly you plan your fall crops, unexpected weather events can still happen. A late season heat wave or an early arctic blast can throw a wrench in things if you’re not ready for it. Fortunately, there are some simple and effective ways to protect your harvest from weather extremes.

Shade Cloth

I’d say shade cloth is a must, for folks growing a fall garden further south. Here in north Georgia, we often get heat waves that push temperatures close to 90 for several days even in late September. Cool season crops just can’t hack it in those conditions without some kind of cover.

You can buy shade cloth online from greenhouse stores, garden stores, etc., either in big rolls or individual shade tarps. Bulk rolls like this one are easy to cut to size and can provide shade for a number of garden beds/spaces. To me, shade cloth is well worth the small investment, since it’ll last over multiple seasons.

“You get what you pay for” is true in a lot of situations. With shade cloth, though, I’ve found the lower-priced stuff holds up just fine, as long as you store it inside when you’re not using it. No need to drop half a paycheck on premium shade cloth.

Shade cloth comes in different percentages based on how much light it will block, from 30% to 90%. For a vegetable garden, 30% to 40% is best. This is enough shade to keep your plants cooler, but it’ll still let in plenty of sunlight for healthy growth. Anything above 50% will block too much light. 

We use our PVC hoop tunnels to hang shade cloth, insect netting, and frost cloth. They’re simple to make: rebar stakes on either side of the bed hold the 3/4 inch PVC in place. However you support your shade cloth, make sure you can secure it well. Otherwise, wind can get ahold of it on blustery days.

When Should You Put Up Shade Cloth for Cool Season Plants?

Most cool season crops like daytime temperatures between 65 and 75 F. At 80 F or above, they’ll really start to suffer. The rule of thumb to prevent too much stress is to provide shade on sunny days when the temps creep above 75. I sometimes pull the shade cloth up at lower temps if the sun is intense and I’m seeing noticeable wilting. 

Frost Cloth

While most of our cool-season crops can handle a light frost, it pays to have some frost and freeze protection ready to go. Some cool season crops might take damage from a hard frost. Even some of the hardier types are vulnerable during a freeze when temps drop below 30.  

You can get garden-specific frost cloth to protect plants from the cold, which is protective but light and breathable. Thrift store sheets, tarps, and plastic drop cloths will work fine, in a pinch. If you’re using something that isn’t breathable, like plastic, be extra careful you don’t forget to remove it once temperatures rise.

Your frost cover should be supported so it isn’t laying directly on your plants or touching them too much. A hoop tunnel is the easiest way to support frost cloth, but I’ve also used milk crates and large pots to keep it elevated in beds that weren’t set up for hoops. Be sure to pin or weight down the edges of your frost cloth so it doesn’t blow off or collapse from the wind.

When Do Cool Season Crops Need Frost Protection?

Really, it depends on the crops and specific varieties you’re growing. Cold-tolerant brassica varieties and hardy greens like kale can take heavy frost without a problem, once the plants have reached a decent size. On the opposite end, many varieties of beets and chard can’t handle anything below a light frost.

A few other factors come into play, with how well your crops tolerate a cold snap. Frost-tolerant plants produce starches in their leaves to protect themselves in response to colder weather. If the temperature drop is sudden, they won’t have time to prepare and may take damage. Well-watered plants also withstand frost and cold better than thirsty ones.

We like to play it safe and hoist that frost cloth if the forecasted low is below 35 F. Our garden is in a low spot, and our nighttime temperatures tend to get colder than the local forecast by at least a few degrees. I once lost a whole crop of Swiss chard when a predicted light frost ended up being a hard frost. Putting up the frost cloth only takes a few minutes. It beats losing your harvest if it gets colder than expected!  

Unless you’re really confidant about the cold tolerance of the varieties you’re growing, frost protection should go up for everything if a hard freeze is forecast (28 F or lower)!

Once you get the hang of the timing for your area, fall might just become your favorite season for gardening. For me, at least, October seems like the one time of year I get to relax and enjoy my garden, without fending off mosquitos and worrying about all the work I need to catch up on!