Whether you’re new to gardening or are a professional, there’s always room to learn and grow. While you might think you’re doing the best for your garden and plants during the fall, you may accidentally be ruining your spring blooms without knowing it. The good news is that many of these mistakes can be avoided once you know the signs to look for to keep your plants in the best possible condition.
We spoke to gardening pros to learn more about common fall gardening mistakes people make and healthier alternatives you can engage in to keep your blooms intact for spring.
1. Not Gardening
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Jeremy notes that one of the most common fall gardening mistakes he sees people make is simply not gardening. “The number one mistake people make in a fall garden is not gardening,” says Jeremy Schmidt, director of horticulture at Bellingrath Home & Gardens in Mobile, Alabama. “It’s [the fall is] the time to evaluate and make sure that things that feed pollinators are in their grand finale.”
2. Not Weeding
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While you might not see much of a point to weeding in the fall if you live in an area with a cooler climate or one that experiences lots of snow, not doing so could be counterproductive. “I always say in the fall, mulch and tuck your plants in for a long winter sleep. Do one last heavy weed session,” says Elizabeth Armitage Brown, resident Gardener at Cliff House Maine.
“Keep your eyes out for invasive plants and remove them. Leave your plants tall and remove anything that looks mushy, discolored or diseased.”
3. Pruning the Wrong Flowers
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While pruning is not necessarily a bad thing, Bob Chabot, chief operating officer at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens notes that pruning flowers in the fall that typically bloom in the spring can be. “The main reason is that there is a danger of trimming off the buds that have been forming and setting throughout the growing season,” he says.
”People may unwittingly do this in the course of wanting to control the size or shape of the plant–trimming should occur after the shrub has finished blooming for the season.”
4. Disposing of Leaves
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Even though you might think you’re doing yourself and your lawn or garden a favor by raking the leaves that fall from nearby trees and disposing of them, you may want to reconsider. “Leaf matter is a natural mulch and composts into your soil to keep it healthy,” explains Kim Zimmerman, owner of Rowdy Poppy in Denver.
“It is best to leave the leaves, [but] if you absolutely must clean it up from a lawn, consider mulching it up with a lawnmower directly into the lawn rather than bagging it. If you do bag it, consider it mulch for your garden beds.”
She adds that composting any leaf matter you want to discard can be a better alternative to throwing away leaf matter into a nearby dumpster.
5. Not Watering the Trees
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While it might be tempting to think that the rain and snowfall your garden may experience in the fall is enough for you to reduce how much you’re watering your trees (or stop watering them completely), it’s not. “When cleaning up in the autumn, don’t forget that the focus isn’t just ‘putting everything to bed’ for the season, but also helping prepare plants and trees to survive winter and thrive when the temps warm,” says Zimmerman.
“Trees, especially, will need some long, deep drinks of water to help this process, so don’t forget to do that every few weeks, at least.”
6. Not Properly Preparing Hoses
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Since the weather and therefore water fluctuates in the fall, Zimmerman notes that keeping water in any hoses you may have or not detaching them (hoses) from spigots can be risky and advises against making this mistake. “The expansion of water during the freeze/thaw cycle means you may end up with split hoses, broken seals, cracked spigots, or even broken pipes if these things aren’t empty of water and prepped for the winter,” she adds.
7. Planting the Wrong Plants
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While setting up your garden for the springtime in the fall can be helpful, you want to set up plants that can tolerate the conditions during the remainder of the fall and winter for success. “If you’re pushing the limits of what a plant can take as far as winter, you don’t want to plant many of those plants now, things that are prone to freezing and completely dying in the winter (not freezing back), but actually dying,” says Schmidt.
8. Cutting Back Plants That Bloom on Old Wood
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Zimmerman notes that one of the last things you’ll want to do is cut back plants that bloom on old wood. “It’s important to know if your plant blooms from old wood,” adds Sarah Hardy, owner and operator of the Found Things Plant Shop. “If they do, pruning after they finish flowering is how to ensure they can still develop buds on the growth from the previous year.”
9. Not Planting Bulbs
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While you can technically start planting your spring flowers in the spring, why not start doing so in the fall to simplify things later? “Fall is the perfect time to get your early spring flowers in the ground [such as] daffodils, tulips, crocuses, grape hyacinths, iris, and alliums,” says Jason Skipton, executive director of Growing Gardens. “Additionally, this is the season for planting edible bulbs for next year’s harvest, like garlic, shallots and spring onions.”
Avoid these common fall gardening mistakes, and your garden will reward you with healthier plants, more flowers and a better harvest next year.
Related: Is It Too Late to Plant Lettuce? These Veggies Thrive in Fall
This story was originally reported by Dengarden on Sep 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the Gardening section. Add Dengarden as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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