Plants sprout fast during rainy spring weather and grow rapidly in summer’s sunny heat. But once the weather cools off in autumn, fruit ripens on the vine, late season harvests mature, and the garden is filled with plenty. Here’s how to make the most of autumn gardening, what you can gather during this fruitful season, and other tips to help you take advantage of gorgeous fall weather.

Milder Weather for The Win

Hot summer afternoons can make digging, planting, and weeding feel exhausting fast. But once the intense heat passes and the autumn winds arrive, it’s much easier to tackle large-scale garden projects, like soil improvement, mulching, and landscaping, without breaking a sweat.

But cool fall days don’t just benefit gardeners. They reduce plant stress and help plants adapt more readily to a change in their environment. That’s a big reason why many plants fare better when they’re pruned and planted in fall.

Beyond these plant perks, the warm, sunny days of autumn give fruit and veggies plenty of time to ripen and develop their flavors. For this reason, fall is the season to harvest favorite long-season crops that take months to mature. However, autumn is also the best time to harvest late plantings of cold tolerant crops that would otherwise bolt if they were planted in summer, as well as cut flowers and bouquets to spruce up autumn harvest tables.

What to Harvest and Gather?

Early season crops, like June-bearing strawberries, rhubarb, and new potatoes are typically harvested in spring or summer. But autumn is the main harvest season for many long- and short-season crops, as well as late-blooming or repeat-blooming flowers.

In veggie beds, many varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and other nightshades mature at this time and are ripe for the picking. If you’re growing just a few plants, you can use them to make fajitas, eggplant parmesan, or fresh garden salads. However, if you have lots of plants ripening at the same time, fall is the time to gather in your harvest and make your own canned salsas, tomato sauces, and chutneys.

Slow-to-grow crops like many types of melons, winter squash, and pumpkins develop optimal flavor and color at this time too and you’ll know it’s time to pick them when the stem connecting the fruit to the main vine starts to brown. Apples, pears, plums, and grapes usually reach peak sweetness in autumn as well.

Aside from these long-season crops, late plantings of fast-growing veggies that mature best in cold weather can also be harvested throughout the fall season and sometimes even after the first frost. This includes many leafy greens, like kale and spinach. Late plantings of peas and radishes also mature well in fall, as do carrots, beets, parsnips, and other root crops, storage potatoes, leeks, and most brassicas, like broccoli and cabbage.

Aside from this edible abundance, many flowers can also be gathered in autumn for fall bouquets. Some favorites include black-eyed Susans, cosmos, and coneflowers, as well as natives like asters and goldenrod.

More Fall Gardening Perks

Harvesting garden goods is one of the great joys of autumn, but it’s not the only benefit of gardening in fall. Here are some more ways to take advantage of the end of the growing season and set your plants and beds up for a successful spring to come.

• Pruning. Many trees, shrubs, and perennials benefit from autumn pruning, which removes dead and damaged branches and can encourage plants to bloom better next spring. Just make sure to avoid pruning plants like old wood hydrangeas, which form flower buds in summer through autumn so they won’t bloom if pruned too late in the year.

• Planting. Cool autumn days are the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs, as well as garlic bulbs. Many perennials benefit from being planted at this time as well—just as long as you get them in the soil at least a few weeks before frost is expected.

• Soil Improvement. Taking the time now to freshen up your garden soil with late applications of compost or a planting of cover crops is an easy way to add nutrients back into your garden and help plants grow better in spring. This is also the best time to apply certain amendments, like soil acidifiers, which take a while to become incorporated into the soil and start working.

• Cleanup. You can avoid a lot of pest and plant disease issues by cleaning vegetable gardens out in autumn and destroying all infested plant debris. Don’t put it in your compost pile because some pests and pathogens can survive the composting process.

• Mulching. Applying mulch around plants in autumn helps insulate delicate roots from cold. Weed-free straw is a common choice for covering soil in empty veggie beds, while bark and wood mulches are always popular for ornamental gardens.

Why Fall is The Most Rewarding Garden Season (and How to Make The Most of It) by Lauren Landers | Better Homes & Gardens