I'm a pushover for Fall planting (and football).

Fall (Autumn or football season will also do) has been my favorite time of year for as long as I can remember. The crispness of the air, Auburn and Alabama beginning the season with renewed optimism, tree leaves turning yellow, red, and orange; it's all good, to me. Another big plus is that it's planting time!

PHOTO: My apologies to Tide fans. You guys have a fantastic team!

Nurserymen and landscape professionals have been extolling the virtues of fall planting for as long as I can remember. The reasons are convincing. Here are two important ones:

1. Root Growth. One of the things that will enhance survivability of your ornamental plantings is root growth. A balled and burlap plant or container plant do so much better when the roots get out and grow beyond the confines of their root ball as they were sitting in the nursery. Mark Longstroth, of the Michigan State Extension Service points out that root growth is most significant during the spring and fall. Sure enough, planting in the fall allows your plants to go through two seasons of root growth before summer heat takes the reigns.


2. Transpiration. Transpiration is defined as such: "to lose water vapor from a plant's surface, especially through minute surface pores, the stomata". When your plants look wilted or dried out in the summer, you can likely assume that transpiration is taking place and there is not enough rainfall or irrigation to compensate. Heat and lack of water are the main culprits that contribute to problems occurring due to plants transpiring. An ecologically friendly way to overcome plants stressing in the summer is to plant when transpiration is not as much of a factor. Planting in the fall will give your plants time to establish themselves before big-time transpiration kicks in.

Some planting techniques will also help to assist plants in their bid to compensate for transpiration and to increase root growth. Loosening the roots of a root bound plant will encourage new roots to emerge. And planting shallow, as opposed to deep, will create an root friendly environment for your new plantings.