Fall is nearly here, and while the days are getting shorter, your garden still has plenty to keep you busy! September is a wonderful transition month—a time to enjoy cooler weather while also setting up your landscape for success in the seasons ahead. Here’s your handy checklist:

Get planting

Autumn is one of the best times to add new plants to your landscape—trees, shrubs, perennials, and especially spring-blooming bulbs. Cool temperatures and fall moisture help plants establish strong roots, leading to healthier growth and earlier blooms next spring. Bulbs like tulips, daffodils, and alliums actually require this overwintering period in order to flower. Just aim to get everything planted about six weeks before the first hard frost so roots have time to settle in before the ground freezes.

Jot notes in your garden journal

While this season is fresh in your mind, take a few minutes to write down what thrived in your garden and what you’d like to adjust for next year. These notes will be a huge help when you’re planning during the winter months.

Stay on top of weeding

Even if you’re tempted to call it quits, a little more weeding now pays off later. Preventing weeds from going to seed keeps them from multiplying next year, and it also helps reduce disease pressure in the garden.

Retire annuals (or let them seed!)

As annuals begin to fade, you can pull them out—or simply stop deadheading and let them go to seed. Flowers like poppies, zinnias, and sunflowers will often reseed themselves, giving you a surprise show next year. Bonus: their seeds provide valuable winter food for birds.

Leave seed heads and grasses standing

Some perennials and ornamental grasses add beautiful texture and movement to an otherwise quiet winter garden. They also provide habitat for pollinators and food for birds during the colder months.

Clean up fading plants

Cut back perennials with yellowing foliage, such as daylilies, irises, peonies, and bee balm. If plants show signs of disease (like powdery mildew), cut them back and throw the debris in the trash—not your compost pile.

Divide perennials

Hostas, daylilies, irises, and other perennials benefit from being divided when they become overcrowded or lose vigor. Complete this task about six weeks before frost to give the divisions time to re-establish. (Need step-by-step guidance? Check out our how-to guide on dividing perennials.)

Create fall & winter containers

Container displays don’t have to end with summer! Embrace the season by designing a festive fall or winter arrangement. Think ornamental kale, pansies, grasses, and colorful branches. Get some tips here.

Finish fall lawn care

September is prime time to prepare your lawn for winter and next spring. Key tasks include overseeding, aerating, fertilizing, and managing falling leaves. (See our fall lawn care guide for details.)

Pause pruning & fertilizing

Pruning and fertilizing this late in the year encourages tender new growth that won’t survive the cold. Hold off until spring.

Add mulch

A fresh layer of mulch protects soil, prevents erosion, conserves moisture, and insulates plant roots against snow and ice. Plus, it gives your garden a tidy, finished look heading into winter.

Plant a cover crop

Cover crops are one of the easiest and most effective ways to care for your garden soil through the winter. They help prevent erosion, suppress weeds, and add organic matter back into the ground once tilled in. Come spring, you’ll be rewarded with healthier, richer soil. Learn more in our fall cover cropping guide.

Bring houseplants back inside

If your indoor plants spent the summer outdoors, it’s time to bring them in before nighttime temps dip below 50°F. Wash leaves gently with mild dish soap to remove dust and any hitchhiking insects. Keep an eye out for pests over the next couple of weeks to make sure you don’t bring them inside too.

With these tasks checked off, your garden will thank you come spring—and you’ll get to enjoy a cozier, more beautiful fall season outdoors.