Why Fall is Perfect for Planting Almost Anything & What to Avoid

Hey, it's Stacey from Proving Winner's Color Choice Shrubs, and I'm here in our West Michigan trial gardens on a beautiful fall day to talk to you about fall planting. Now, you might've heard before that fall is a great time for planting, and I'm gonna tell you exactly why that's true. And it's true whether you live in a cold climate, like us here in Michigan, or maybe even colder, or if you live in a warm climate. And the reason is it's pretty much all about the roots. There's a couple of things about fall that make it ideal for root growth. Number one, the combination of shorter days, longer nights, and cooler temperatures make it perfect for roots to grow in. The roots can grow rapidly, and there's usually plenty of rainfall, so it makes it a little bit easier on you. Plus, of course, because it's fall, plants are starting to go dormant. And what that means is that the plant can put all of its energy into growing roots instead of growing leaves, or flowering, or all of the other things that it will have to do if you're going to plant in spring at the beginning of the growing season. So instead of trying to support all this top growth, a plant can put all of its energies into root growth. And that matters. You may have heard us talk about water well until established, or this plant won't flower much until it is established. And that idea of a plant getting established is all about the roots. So when you get this headstart on roots, you get a headstart on your plant being established, and that means it's gonna start doing what you want it to do a lot more quickly. The other reason that fall is usually really good for planting is because you can typically scoop up some good bargains. Garden centers usually don't want to have to store a bunch of plants over winter. So they're like, get them out of here, and offering them at a great price. So with all of those things in mind, it's a great time to think about going to your garden center, getting some plants that you've always wanted, this is true for shrubs, perennials, and trees, and getting into the garden. Now, that said, there are a couple of things that you ideally want to avoid planting in fall. I'm gonna show you those now. So one thing that you want to avoid planting, especially in cold climates in fall, is broadleaf evergreens. And broadleaf evergreens basically just mean evergreens that aren't a needle or scale like evergreen, like a conifer. So that includes things like this rhododendron, evergreen holly, boxwood. Those are just some common examples that you might find. And the reason that you don't want to plant those in fall in cold climates is because the plant won't have quite enough time to develop a good root system to help it through the challenges of winter. Because it's keeping these leaves on the plant all winter long, this foliage is gonna be losing water because of sun, because of winds, and all of that. And that's pretty stressful on a plant that may have only had six to eight weeks to form roots. While that's perfectly fine for other plants, you want to give these the longest possible start. If you live in a warm climate, perfectly fine to plant broadleaf evergreens in fall. Another thing you'll want to avoid planting in fall, if possible, is anything that typically gets winter damage in your climate. So if in spring, when you go to look at the plant, it's mostly dead, coming back from the ground, that's something you would want to wait until spring to plant. So again, it has that longest possible window to establish roots before the challenges of winter. So one good example, especially if you live in USDA zone five, is gonna be butterfly bush. This is a plant that does often get winter damage. It usually will come back from the ground just fine. But butterfly bush are definitely one that are better planted in spring if you live in a cold climate. Aside from that, it's really gonna depend on your climate, what this means, because the warmer the climate that you live in, you're gonna have a totally different palette of plants that are likely to get winter damage in your area. So you know what that might mean. Those are plants you want to avoid. Of course, if you get a great deal, I know you can't resist, you might actually plant it, but just know that these are plants that benefit from a longer window of establishment. So my final caveat for what you should avoid planting in fall is anytime that you are pushing the hardiness zone of a plant. So I am in full support of being an experimental gardener and saying, hey, I love this plant, but it's not quite hardy for me. I wanna see if I can make it work. Absolutely do that. But the best time to do that is in spring, because again, you want that longest possible period of establishment rather than the shortest one, which is gonna be fall. So a good example here is this fabulous yard line viburnum behind me. This is a plant that we sell as hardy to USDA zone seven. We're zone six B. Obviously, you can see that it's doing great. It's been here for a couple of years and it has no problems, but it would really benefit from being planted in spring so that it has months of opportunity to grow roots and get established rather than just a number of roots. Now you know why you should plant in fall and the couple of things you should avoid planting in fall, which means that the palette of plants that you can plant in fall is enormous. So how do you narrow it down? Well, for one, you can always plant what you get a good deal on, but in part two of this video, we're gonna show you five types of shrubs that are ideal for planting now because they're gonna be able to withstand fall conditions, not have any issues with winter, they're hardy, they're heat tolerant, and they're gonna look great as soon as next spring. So we're gonna link part two of the video in the description. And of course, you can always like this video and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss part two or any of our other videos on plants and gardening. Thanks.