While spring is usually the time most Texans jump into their gardens with renewed vigor, fall planting season can be equally important.
Academics and plant sellers alike said trees and shrubs that are deciduous, or lose their leaves in the winter, do best when planted in the fall, as it gives their roots time to establish. Those more developed root systems will help the plants be more resilient when faced with extreme summer heat.
“We typically have more rainfall in the fall season, so that extra moisture, cooler temperatures, all of that is a culmination of all the right things for trees and shrubs to grow really strong roots and a strong foundation,” said Jennifer Hatalski of Texas garden chain Calloway’s Nursery.
Hatalski also said dividing, or splitting a larger plant into many plants, is often best done during the autumn months for spring-flowering perennials.
D-FW Weather Wise
Whether the plant has outgrown a space or you’re simply looking to establish it in another spot, recently divided plants experience the same benefits of fall as those new trees or shrubs. She recommended watering the soil the day before to make it easier to work with, as well as choosing a cool or cloudy day to help limit shock to the plant.
Crotons are watered twice a day while the weather is warm on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at Calloway’s Nursery on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Some Texas gardeners may instead be looking for a quick refresh to a tired summer spread of flowers, to which Hatalski recommends annuals that prefer the cold and provide a pop of color, like winter pansies, fall petunias and mums. It’s also a great time to plant cool-season vegetables like cabbage, lettuce and swiss chard.
Mike Arnold, director of The Gardens at Texas A&M, said fall is a great time to plan ahead.
If Texans are interested in cultivating some of the wildflowers for which our highways are known, fall is the time to plant them. Bluebonnets, paintbrushes and other wildflowers need time to germinate and will move through the winter as tiny plants, Arnold said, before growing and blooming in the spring.
It’s also an ideal time to plant bulbs, like daffodils, hyacinths or tulips, Arnold said. Those flowers need to experience the winter cold to bloom in early spring. Some bulbs that originate from colder climates can also benefit from being pre-chilled, or kept in the fridge before planting, to help replicate a longer winter.
What about cleaning up leaves and scraggly stems?
Arnold and Hatalski both recommended waiting to prune to ensure plants have gone dormant. A sure sign of this for bushes and trees is the complete loss of leaves, which may not occur until winter. Most plants prefer to be pruned in late winter or early spring to help them encourage new growth, they said.
Arnold added that there are exceptions to this, such as spring-blooming plants that have already set their buds in the fall, like a forsythia. Those plants should be pruned in late spring to summer after their flowers fade.
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When it comes to leaving the leaves (a popular phrase in the gardening social media scene), the experts differed a little.
Arnold said leaves can make great compost, pointing out that, “if we go out in the woods, leaves make a natural mulch for us.”
While leaving the leaves right where they fall can present issues, such as smothering turf grasses’ access to sunlight, Arnold said he uses fallen foliage at his house. For smaller amounts on the grass, he’ll break them down with a mulching mower so they can filter through the grass and feed the soil. For larger amounts, he said he rakes them into his flowerbeds.
On campus, he said his team gathers the leaves and composts them separately to present a cleaner look, which is similar to what Hatalski recommends.
She shared the same concerns about killing grass without access to sunlight, and recommended mulching leaves even before scattering them in flowerbeds to prevent disease growth. Hatalski said their team still supports mulching but recommends using a hardwood mulch for a polished look.
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