Fall Is Best Time to Plant in Southland

Is fall really the best time of year to plant just about anything, anywhere in Southern California?

“Absolutely,” says Lew Whitney in Corona del Mar.

“Definitely,” says Gary Jones in Pasadena.

“No question,” says Keith Haworth in Lake Elsinore.

Trust them--these are all professional nurserymen who would certainly like to sell plants at times of the year other than autumn.

The fact is, in our mild climate you can plant at just about any time of the year, and there are even a few things that are better planted in winter or spring, but, in general, there is no easier, more sure-fire season than fall.

For one thing, it’s getting cooler, or soon will be, so you can work in the garden without sweat stinging your eyes. You can do that really hard work, like properly preparing the soil, which often makes all the difference in a garden, especially if you are growing vegetables or flowers.

Plants don’t wilt in the heat of the day and watering will be substantially less of a chore. In many cases you can give new plants a thorough soaking and almost forget about them, unless we have a long, dry autumn.

During the autumn months, you can plant a vast array of annuals, bedding plants and bulbs that bloom in the spring--far more variety than you’ll find for summer gardens--vegetables that mature only during cool weather such as lettuce and cauliflower, perennials of all kinds, plus just about any tree, shrub or ground cover you can think of.

There are a few exceptions to the rule: Roses and deciduous fruit trees, which are usually planted in January, though you may be sorely tempted by the sales going on now; the subtropicals that are especially sensitive to winter’s frosts when young, such as citrus, hibiscus, schefflera or bougainvillea; and, of course, those annuals and vegetables that flower or ripen in summer, such as marigolds and tomatoes.

Don’t think that if you garden on a balcony or terrace, that fall planting in not for you. For the very same reasons mentioned above, container plants are extra easy when planted in autumn. Many bulbs and bedding plants actually do better in containers than in the ground.

Keith Haworth, who runs a nursery called Plants for Dry Places in Lake Elsinore, thinks that more permanent things such as shrubs and trees gain a whole year’s growth over those planted later in spring.

The reason is well documented. Roots make rapid growth in autumn and when spring arrives, they are able to sustain astonishing growth above ground.

Gary Jones, who runs Hortus in Pasadena, says not to get discouraged if you don’t see too much happening above ground. “Just wait until the weather warms, and they’ll take off,” he says, “thanks to all that root growth.”

You won’t have to wait long with bedding plants such as pansies or primroses. They begin to grow and flower almost immediately.

Lew Whitney, head of Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar, points out that fall-planted annuals or bedding plants last a really long time, from October through April, sometimes even into June.

Haworth adds that drought-tolerant plants in particular benefit from fall planting. “Many, like ceanothus, are coming out of a summer dormancy, and are ready to start growing in the cooler weather.”

Plant a drought-resistant shrub or perennial in spring and you will have to water it all summer until it gets its roots down into the soil. However, many drought-tolerant plants succumb to root diseases if given too much water in summer, so you must walk a thin line between over and under watering.

But in fall, the sun is lower and less intense, the days cooler and winter’s rains are on the way to help out. You seldom need to water even new plants and they run little risk of root rot diseases. If everything in your garden is automatically irrigated, be sure to reset the controllers to water less often.

In general, you don’t have to water anything that much in fall and winter, although Santa Ana winds could be considered a fly in the ointment. They can desiccate new and old plants and quickly dry out the root area, though often they are more bluster than bite, so be sure to check and see if the root ball is really dry, or if the plant has just temporarily wilted and will soon perk back up.

When does the fall planting season begin? Oct. 15, or next weekend, could be considered the official start. It runs from mid-October to mid-December, though you may want to buy bulbs as soon as possible before they get too picked over. Haworth suggests that gardeners in inland areas might want to finish up by Thanksgiving, since the weather cools off sooner there.

You can, of course, plant right through winter, but you loose some of the advantages of fall planting since all growth slows when the weather turns chilly.

Whitney confesses that he is planting flowers and bulbs a little later than he used to, waiting until November, because then they bloom a little later, in late March and April and last longer into spring, a strategy worth considering.

Some kind of strategy is needed if you hope to take advantage of all of fall planting possibilities.

You might start by buying bulbs. Some need to go in the refrigerator for six to eight weeks, in the vegetable crisper. Tulips, hyacinths and spring-blooming crocus need this artificial chilling if they are to prosper in our climate.

Others can be planted right away, such as freesias, ranunculus and other bulbs originally from warm climates like our own, and the rest, including daffodils, should be planted sometime after Oct. 15.

Next, start things best grown from seed. This includes wildflowers. Fall is the only time to plant wildflowers, and you can germinate them with irrigation or simply wait for the first rains to bring them up. Just be sure to pull out the many winter weeds that also come up with the first rain or irrigation.

Then plant those permanent things--trees, shrubs and ground covers. Start early enough and you will have enough time to redo an entire landscape. More likely you will just be adding a tree or a few shrubs to an existing landscape, or replacing some ground cover that has died out.

Finally, turn your attention to the flower beds. For the longest-lasting, most floriferous winter and spring show, Whitney suggests planting a little of everything, some bulbs first, then a few perennials and finally bedding plants. Low-growing kinds can go right on top of the bulbs.

This way you get a succession of blooms, usually starting in early February and running deep into April or even May.

And, don’t forget the cool-season vegetables. You can start planting them right away from seed, easy to sprout in the warm fall weather, or start with young plants from nursery packs. Crunchy vegetables such as carrots, broccoli or lettuce are another fall-planting possibility not to be missed.

Fall Planting Guide

From now through mid-December, you can plant the following:

FLOWERS

Annuals best started from seed:

African daisies Alyssum California poppies Clarkia and godetia Linaria Sweet peas Wildflowers

Annuals and bedding plants best started from nursery packs:

Bells of Ireland Calendula Candytuft Canterbury bells Chrysanthemum mulitcaule Chrysanthemum paludosum Cineraria (take shade) Columbine (take shade) Cyclamen (take shade) Delphinium Dusty Miller English daisy Forget-me-nots (take shade) Foxglove (take shade) Hollyhock Iceland Poppy Larkspur Lobelia Nicotiana Pansy and viola Phlox Primroses (take shade) Ranunculus Blue salvia Schizanthus Snapdragon Stock Sweet William

BULBS

These bulbs should be refrigerated for six to eight weeks in the vegetable crisper:

Spring-blooming crocus Garden tulips Hyacinths

These bulbs can be planted right away:

Alliums Amaryllis Anemones Babiana Brodiaea Calla lilies (take shade) Crocosmia Cyclamen Daffodils Dutch iris Freesia Homeria Ipheion Ixia Leucojum Lilies (take shade) Lachenalia Leucojum Muscari Ornithogalum Oxalis Ranunculus Scilla (take shade) Sparaxis Species, or wild tulips Watsonia

VEGETABLES

These vegetables are best started from seed:

Beets Carrots Endive Fava beans Kale Kohlrabi Head and leaf lettuce Peas Radish Spinach Swiss chard Turnip

These vegetables are best started from nursery packs, bulbs or bare root:

Artichoke Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Garlic Onions Rhubarb

PERENNIALS

Almost any perennial flower can be planted from 4-inch pots or gallon cans.

LAWNS

Plant cool-season grasses including annual rye over Bermuda grass lawns, perennial rye, bluegrass, tall fescue.

LANDSCAPE PLANTS

You can plant most shrubs, trees, ground covers and vines, including all California natives.

This is not the best time of year to plant citrus, subtropical vines or shrubs, deciduous fruit trees such as apples or apricots, roses or subtropical lawn grasses such as Bermuda or St. Augustine. All of these plants are about to go dormant or may freeze.