FALL: Time to Reassess Your Yard

By Carol Ivory, Loudoun County Master Gardener, September 2010

Fall is the perfect time to plant perennials, trees and shrubs. The cooler temperatures and with some luck, the rainfall, allow new plants to get some root growth established before winter sets in. Some plants continue to expand their root systems throughout the winter. While the Garden Centers overflow with plants in the spring, the fall is really the best time to plant. Those spring plantings require close attention and frequent watering throughout the summer, especially a very hot one like we just experienced. Fall plantings have about 8 months to get established before the full assault of summer begins.

Lawns also require attention in the fall. This is the season to over seed, fertilize if you need to, thatch, aerate and continue to water and mow.

So there’s no getting around fall yard work! This is the perfect time to step back and reassess. What do you want from your yard? Is your yard functional? Is it an asset? Are you benefiting from all the work that you put into it? Is your yard balanced?

Grass is Not “Green”

Grass is not environmentally beneficial. The type of grass we strive to have is native to England and northern France. These countries are on the same latitude as Nova Scotia – cool and damp – about an inch of rain a week. (Don’t be fooled, Kentucky Bluegrass is not native to Kentucky!) In order to keep grass alive during our hot dry Virginia summers we have to water and water with scarce, expensive water. Our soil is naturally acidic so we add lime and lots of other fertilizers that contain nitrogen and phosphorus that run off into our streams and rivers and eventually cause huge dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. Homeowners overuse and misuse pesticides which make the grass potentially hazardous and compound the runoff problem.

The roots of healthy turf grass are so dense that water cannot soak into the ground. Lawns act more like sidewalks and roads, limiting ground water infiltration, and increasing runoff and flooding.

Then there’s the lawn mower. We water and fertilize the grass so that it grows faster and then we have to use noisy, polluting, gas burning mowers to cut the grass.

Finally the lawn adds nothing to the ecology. It provides neither food nor habitat for wildlife — nothing for the bees, butterflies or birds. A healthy lawn is a sterile monoculture.

Grass–Use It or Lose It

Grass has a function. It creates a place to play and a place for outdoor entertainment. Children need space to run, play ball, and roll around (avoid the use of pesticides where children and pets come in contact with the grass). Assess whether your entire lawn is being used. Are there spots where the grass really doesn’t want to grow? An area needs at least 6 hours of sun for grass to thrive. Are there areas where the lawn isn’t serving a function – it’s just there because it’s always been there? Consider replacing the areas of your lawn that are not actively benefiting you and your family with native trees, shrubs and plants. The idea is not to do away with the lawn but to design and manage it to reduce its present damage to the environment.

The Benefits of Naturalized Areas

Areas planted with native trees and shrubs do surprisingly well with very little effort on your part. Once they are established they require less water and little or no fertilizer. Native plants like our acidic clay soil as is. A thick stand of native perennials choke out the weeds and the area becomes virtually care free. Areas covered with native plants and trees, decaying leaves and wood chips acts like a sponge; rain can percolate down to deep roots and the aquifers below. Storm runoff is significantly decreased and the rain water stays where it’s needed. Native plants also provide food for pollinators and birds. At right is a photo taken locally of a monarch on blue bee balm. Native plants provide pollen for hummingbirds, bees and butterflies and seeds for such birds as golden finch.

Planning to Go Native

Identify the areas that you want to keep. Get to know the areas that you plan to replace. How much shade does it get, at what times of the day? When is it sunny? Is the soil dry or moist? Is it flat or on a grade? Research the native plants that do well in your conditions. A very good source of information is Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping, http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake/

Draw up a plan that you can implement at your convenience over the next three to five years to reduce the size of your lawn and increase the areas that are naturalized with native trees, shrubs and plants. You may want to take advantage of a full sun area by planting a native flower bed. Consider color, height and flowering time for the best effect. Another option is to mitigate the full sun with some trees. Many plants that grow in full sun also appreciate partial shade. Two examples of trees that will become tall, are relatively fast growing, provide food for wildlife and are hospitable to plants growing under them are tulip trees, Liriodendron tulipifera and willow oaks, Quercus phellos. There are many smaller trees that will also provide shade as well as wildlife benefit. Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, river birch, Betula nigra and Washington hawthorn, Cratageus phaenopyrum are attractive smaller trees with high wildlife value.

The following are some native plants to consider:

Sunny Spot Plants

Butterfly weed Milkweed Purple cone flower Orange coneflower Wild Blue Indigo Coreopsis (tickseed) Swamp sunflower Gayfleather Goldenrod

Asters New York ironweed

Partial Shade Lovers

Cardinal flower Great blue lobelia Mistflower Goldenrod Black-eyed Susan Oxeye sunflower Red and blue bee balm Green and gold Foamflower

Wild blue phlox Wild columbine

Shrubs

American beautyberry Buttonbush Sweet pepperbush Inkberry holly Winterberry holly Black or Red chokeberry Red elderberry Highbush blueberry Arrowwood viburnum Black haw viburnum Sumac