Fall Is the Best Time to See What Your Landscape Is Missing

Fall isn’t just a beautiful time in the garden. It’s also one of the best times to take a good look at your landscape and see what could use a little improvement.

After months of summer growth, your garden has had plenty of time to show you what’s working and what isn’t. As leaves begin to fall and summer plants start to fade, areas that were once hidden become easier to see. Bare spots, awkward spaces and places that could use more structure suddenly stand out.

Take a Fresh Look at Your Landscape

Walk around your property and look at it from different angles. Check the view from the street, your driveway, patio and even from inside your home. Are there areas that look empty? Is one section overflowing with plants while another feels unfinished?

Fall is a great time to notice where a new tree, shrub or perennial could bring better balance to the landscape.

Look for Year-Round Structure

Flowers are wonderful, but a strong landscape needs more than blooms. Trees and shrubs create the framework that keeps a garden interesting throughout the seasons.

Evergreens can add year-round color and screening. Deciduous trees can provide shade, height and beautiful fall foliage. Shrubs can define beds, soften foundations and help connect different areas of the landscape.

When summer flowers disappear, it becomes much easier to see whether your garden has enough of that permanent structure.

Find the Gaps in Your Garden Beds

Some empty spaces are obvious. Others don’t appear until plants begin going dormant.

Look for areas where you could add perennials for another season of color, shrubs for additional texture or a specimen tree to create a focal point. You may also discover spots where plants simply haven’t performed as well as you hoped.

Instead of automatically replacing a struggling plant with the same thing, consider whether the location might be better suited to something different.

Think About Next Year’s Garden Now

One of the advantages of evaluating your landscape in fall is that this year’s garden is still fresh in your mind.

Where did you wish you had more shade this summer? Which garden bed needed more color? Is there a view you’d rather screen? Did an area feel too bare, too crowded or difficult to maintain?

Make notes or take photos now. By spring, it can be surprisingly easy to forget the little things you noticed throughout the growing season.

Fall Is Also a Great Time to Plant

Cooler temperatures make fall a comfortable time to work outdoors, and the season provides an opportunity to get trees, shrubs and many perennials established before next year’s growing season.

Adding plants now can also give your landscape a head start, so you’re not beginning every garden project from scratch once spring arrives.

Stop In and Get Inspired

Not sure what your landscape is missing? Sometimes seeing different trees, shrubs and perennials in person is all it takes to spark an idea.

Visit Sixteen Acres Garden Center this fall and take a look around. Whether you’re filling an empty corner, adding more seasonal interest or planning a larger landscape refresh, fall is a perfect time to start thinking about what you want your garden to become next year.

Sixteen Acres Garden Center
1359 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01119

Fall Hours: Open Daily, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM