Lawns:
Fall if a great time to seed/reseed a new lawn. The cooler, moist weather is ideal for establishing new lawn seedlings. Established lawns should be fertilized and treated for weed control now. Moss control and lime should be applied now.

Planting:
Fall is an ideal time to plant trees, shrubs, perennials, and spring flowering bulbs. The cooler weather allows plants to establish themselves before the onset of winter. In spring, the new plantings are ready to grow!

Pruning:
Keep pruning to a minimum.
Shrubs, trees, roses, and woody perennials should be light pruned only as overpruning will encourage new growth that is vulnerable to winter kill. Save heavy pruning for late winter/early spring. Evergreen shrubs should be pruned immediately after flowering.

Perennial beds:
It's time to start cutting down any flowers and stems that have have finished blooming for the year and have browned. Remove any weeds, then help keep flower beds weed free by mulching the surface around all of your flowers. This will keep out the light and greatly reduce the amount of new weed seedlings. Dahlias require special handling. Keep them deadheaded, but otherwise leave them alone until frost. For best results, they should be lifted and stored for winter. Click here for storage instructions. If your dahlias are planted in a raised bed or quick draining soil, they can be left in the ground during winter.

Vegetable gardens:
Fall is the time to be harvesting, canning, & freezing your vegetable crops. Try to get weeds under control now, especially any that are going to seed, so that control will be easier next summer. Pumpkins & other winter squash should be left on the vine until they beging to turn color. Remove from the garden before frost to a sunny window in an unheated area to finish ripening and cure for storage. Potatoes should be lifted as soon as the vines have dried up. They need to cure before storing for winter or they will simply rot. Curing is done by spreading out potatoes in a cool dry area for two weeks. They need to be covered with black plastic during the curing process to avoid greening from light exposure. After the two weeks are up, store them in burlap bags and hang in a cool dark place for winter. Potatoes need air circulation during storage, so hanging on a hook rather than placing in a container allows this.

Roses:
Save pruning for late winter/early spring! Fall pruning can cause winter kill.