Tips For Growing A Late-Summer Garden For Fall Harvest

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As you clean up your garden at the end of the summer, you can't forget that your favorite hobby doesn't have to end. Instead, it's the perfect time to get your autumn garden ready since the soil is still warm enough to create delicious garden-to-table treats, and the cool weather even improves some veggies' flavor. However, without the proper steps, you can easily find yourself with a less successful harvest. From timing and crop protection to pulling old plants and preparing the soil, here are some helpful tips for growing a late-summer garden for a fall harvest. 

From basil and cilantro to kale and swiss chard, there are various plants you can grow during those last few weeks of summer, leading to a bountiful produce yield in the fall. You can even add a stunning fall flower garden with plants like cosmos. To determine which plants are best for your late-summer garden, you'll need to first find your USDA Hardiness Zone. From there, you'll narrow your options down by the type of soil in your garden, the amount of maintenance required, and which produce you want. With whatever plants you choose, you must remember to follow all their planting and care instructions.

Before adding these plants to your garden, you also need to figure out your area's first frost date. This will help you calculate the best time to plant your chosen crops to get a harvest before winter hits. For a fall garden, you're looking for plants that take about 30 to 90 days to mature, but this can vary depending on your local climate and whether the plants can tolerate frost.

As the two seasons collide, you'll see a mixture of weather and temperatures; timing and protection are crucial for a healthy, abundant harvest. To determine the best time to plant, find the number of days to maturity for each crop (listed on the seed packet), and count back from the first frost date in your area. Additionally, when you plant in this season, you can't forget about the "fall factor." This is where you add an extra one or two weeks to the number of days to maturity, because the days are shorter, making the plants' time out in the sun shorter as well. Taking this into account helps you determine the perfect planting date.

Some of these last few days of summer are hot, drying up the soil or making it too hot for successful seed germination. One of the first things you should do is cool the soil by placing a shade over it and watering the ground until it is moist. Take wire garden hoops and place them around your plants. Once secure, set a shade fabric, like the e.share Sun Shade Cloth, over it. You can also create natural shade with a nearby tall plant or trellis. Later in the year, once the first signs of frost start to show, you have to protect your plants from succumbing to the cold. You can protect your plants from frost with burlap fabric, blankets, or a frost cloth, like this Valibe Blanket Plant Cover.

Once you know the best time to plant and how to protect the area, you can get your garden ready for the fall harvest by pulling out old plants, preparing the soil, and then planting the crops of your choice. Start off by removing all old plants, weeds, and other debris. If you want them to continue to grow or if they still have some life left in them, repot or replant them. Otherwise, throw them in your compost pile. Rake over the soil to give your garden a new slate for the next set of plants. Then, move on to preparing the soil by placing fertilizer, compost, or manure to add some nutrients and improve the structure of the soil. 

Finally, it's time to plant. Follow the depth and spacing instructions on your seed packets. Remember to water regularly, provide adequate sunlight exposure, and cover the soil with mulch to get the best out of your harvest. Over the growing season, you may even be able to get a second crop yield, but if you can't do so in time, remove your fall plants and add a green manure such as clover to add organic matter to the soil, deter erosion, and keep weeds away.