October glory...

The temperatures are falling, the leaves are changing, and soon we will be welcomed to the aroma of burning leaves and kids pouncing into leaf piles! Its fall, and its time to do some last minute things to prepare your yard for the coming cold weather!

We are already seeing frost on the turf, and frost can damage your yard if your not careful. Be sure to stay off your yard when there is frost on the turf, the ice crystals that form inside the plant tissue will damage the plant if stepped upon or driven on, so if you want to avoid brown footsteps through your yard, stay off the frost until the sun melts it off.

Leaves are starting to make their graceful way to the grounds beneath, and into our yards and gardens. Another option for leaves is to continuously mulch them with a mulch mower into your yard or flower beds as opposed to raking them. It is much greener, considering you are adding organic material to your yard, so think of it as free fertilizer, and best of all, for us lazy gardeners, its much less labor intensive than raking! (And it is so much fun to shoot sweet-gum balls back into our neighbors yard!)

A mixture of Gourds and Squash can make a great dramatic impact in your garden.

A lot of gardeners plant mums and pansies in the fall. Pumpkins and squash make a great filler for beds, take a lot less work to plant, and you can eat them! Then they can be turned into Jack-O-Lanterns later in the month, and the seeds can be prepared as a healthy treat for kids and us kids-at-hearts alike. Pumpkins are often cheaper per square footage when compared to fall flowers, and look great in the fall garden!

Mmm! Can't wait!

I hope you get outside and get a chance to enjoy the fall air. I remember sleeping in the leaf-covered forest floor as a child, and its something we often neglect; some time outside, some time for ourselves to reconnect with our memories and the beautiful world around us! Have a great fall!