Land Care Garden Center Marks Start Of North Texas' Extended Fall Planting Season

FLOWER MOUND, Texas - Land Care Garden Center is marking the beginning of September as the start of what the garden center calls North Texas' extended fall planting season, a window that runs from now through late in the year and gives trees, shrubs, and perennials a head start most spring plantings never get. The garden center, located at 1616 Arrowhead Drive in Flower Mound, said the shift gets less attention than it deserves, since most homeowners associate planting season with spring rather than fall. More information is available from Land Care Garden Center.

Waiting For It To Feel Like Fall Costs Real Root-Growing Time

Land Care Garden Center said the most common mistake homeowners make is waiting for the weather to feel like fall before planting, when the actual advantage of fall planting comes from soil that is still warm, not from cool air. A tree, shrub, or perennial planted in early September spends the fall and winter building roots below ground while the top of the plant rests, arriving at spring with a head start a comparable plant put in the ground come April will not match until well into its first summer. By the time the weather actually turns cool in October and November, a homeowner who waited has already given up several weeks of root establishment they cannot get back.

Trees And Shrubs Lead The List, Backed By The Same Stock Installation Crews Use

The garden center's trees and shrubs top the list of what Land Care Garden Center recommends planting as the fall window opens, alongside perennials and ornamental grasses suited to the region. The material is mature, container grown stock rather than young saplings, and it is the same landscape grade inventory the garden center's sister company uses on professional installation projects, meaning a homeowner planting from the garden center this fall is working with the same proven stock a paid landscape crew would choose for a client.

Cool Season Vegetables And Wildflower Seed Round Out A Full Second Season

Beyond trees and shrubs, Land Care Garden Center said early September is also the right time for fall vegetables and wildflower seed, including bluebonnets, along with one more round of warm season color such as marigolds and zinnias before the first frost arrives. The garden center's month by month guide to North Texas gardening describes September as a second spring, a full extra planting season most parts of the country do not get, and it recommends applying a pre-emergent herbicide early in the month to head off cool season weeds before they take hold, since a pre-emergent applied after weeds have already germinated has nothing left to prevent.

Existing Perennials Benefit From The Same Window As New Purchases

The extended fall window is not limited to new purchases. Land Care Garden Center's guidance recommends dividing and moving spring blooming perennials such as iris in September, giving the divided plants time to settle into their new location before winter dormancy sets in rather than being disturbed right before their spring bloom. This task gets overlooked next to new planting, staff said, but a perennial divided in September typically produces a noticeably stronger bloom the following spring than one rushed through a spring transplant.

A Fall Project Can Start Small And Still Beat The Calendar

Not every homeowner uses the fall window for a full landscape overhaul, and Land Care Garden Center said many customers plant just the one or two trees or shrubs they have been meaning to add, rather than treating fall planting as an all-or-nothing project. Starting small still captures the root establishment advantage the season offers, and staff said a homeowner who plants one well-placed tree in September is better positioned than one who plans an ambitious project for spring and never quite gets to it before the heat returns.

Matching A Plant To Its Actual Site Prevents Next Year's Problem

Land Care Garden Center encourages homeowners planning fall planting to bring photos of their space, along with information about sun exposure and soil conditions, when visiting or calling ahead. Staff said matching a plant to the actual conditions of a yard, rather than choosing based on appearance alone, remains the single biggest factor in whether a fall planting succeeds by the following spring, and that conversation typically takes only a few minutes at the counter, well worth it against the alternative of a struggling tree or shrub showing up a year later with no easy fix.

Land Care Garden Center can be reached at (972) 992-1660 or through its Google Business Profile with questions about what will perform best in a specific spot. The garden center said the trees, shrubs, and perennials that go into North Texas ground in the first weeks of September consistently outperform the same plants put in later in the fall, simply because they get more weeks of warm soil to work with before winter arrives, and that head start is the entire case for treating September, not April, as the real start of the planting year.

About Land Care Garden Center

Land Care Garden Center is a family owned and operated retail garden center in Flower Mound, Texas, serving North Texas gardeners for more than twenty years under the site's original identity as Schmitz Garden Center and, since March 2023, under the ownership of Steve and Karen Cammack. The center carries Texas native plants, trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, soil, mulch, stone, and pottery, and supplies wholesale nursery material to landscape professionals. Landscape design, installation, irrigation, drainage, lighting, and maintenance services are provided through its sister company, Land Care Landscape Management. Land Care Garden Center is a member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and the National Association of Landscape Professionals.

Contact Information:

Land Care Garden Center

1616 Arrowhead Dr
Flower Mound, TX 75028
United States

Contact Land Care Garden Center
(972) 992-1660
https://landcaregardencenter.net