EP298- Autumn Planting: Why Planting Trees And Shrubs Now Sets You Up For Spring Success

The garden might look like it’s winding down, but this is where the smart gains happen. We dig into why autumn gives trees and shrubs a head start: soil stays warm, air cools, energy shifts below ground, and roots quietly get to work while you do less. If you’ve ever been told to wait for spring, you’ll hear exactly how that advice costs time, water, and success.

I walk through the plant physiology that makes September to November a sweet spot for establishment, then compare it with the realities of spring planting when leaves are pushing, transpiration spikes, and the hose becomes a constant chore. You’ll learn when container-grown plants excel, how root-balled evergreens fit into late autumn, and why the bare-root season is unbeatable value for hedging, fruit, and deciduous trees. We cover simple, low-effort steps: site prep, planting depth, firming soil, one good water-in, staking properly, and adding a light mulch to stabilise moisture.

For newer gardeners planning a first hedge or feature tree, this is your green light to act before winter. I also share quick grow-along updates, from uneven germination to sneaky slugs under trays, plus what to do next without panicking about slow seeds. Looking ahead, we’ve got seed saving, a deep dive on bare-root planting, and our annual Christmas gifts for gardeners special, where I’m inviting one female and one male listener to come on and share their lists.

If this helped you rethink your garden calendar, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s itching to plant, and leave a quick review so more gardeners find us. Got gift ideas or want to be on the gifts episode? Message me on Instagram or email info@mastermygarden.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Finding A Topic Spark
• 2:56 Why Autumn Planting Wins
• 6:40 Industry Labels And Perception
• 10:20 Plant Physiology And Root Focus
• 15:05 Spring Planting Tradeoffs
• 18:35 Who Counts As A Gardener
• 21:05 Bare Root And Root Ball Ahead
• 23:40 Call For Gift Guide Guests

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:13

How's it going everybody and welcome to episode 298 of Master of My Garden Podcast. Now, this week's episode is it's not a listener's question as such, but I suppose when you're bringing out an episode of a podcast every week, sometimes inspiration in terms of what to talk about or what's topical at that time can be hard to find. And it's funny I have resorted you know once or twice to putting it into chat GBT to come up with some ideas for the podcast, and they come up with or it comes up with 10, you know, 10 topics. And it's funny because they're always ones that I've covered before, and I never get any inspiration from it as such. And you know, it can be hard to come up with topics that are new. So there's always something that's you know topical to that time, but something that hasn't been covered before can be tricky and is tricky at times to come up with. And especially if you're, you know, if you're at a stage where you're at a particular time where you're just not feeling it, you're just not inspired at that time, ideas can be hard to come by. And I what I find is that a lot of the time conversations or questions are what sparks the the thought of creating an episode. And this week is no different. So it's two separate conversations, two different people, but both of them sort of struck me as interesting. And that that's what I gotta base this on. And just to set a bit of context on it, the first question was from somebody who I suppose wouldn't classify classify themselves as a gardener per se, but wants to do a little bit outside of their house and wants to start adding some trees and shrubs and so on. And they asked me for, you know, some ideas or some bits of advice. Uh they're a friend, by the way, so it wasn't, you know, it wasn't a consultation or anything, it was just a conversation. And you know, we spoke about trees and we spoke about different shrubs and borders and all of that. And that was alright. We came up with possible plants, possible trees, and so on. And then the person said, Well, it's probably too late for this year anyway, we'll leave it off then till next year. And I asked why they said that. And that was the first conversation. So that I I I thought that was interesting. Obviously, I explained to them no that that's not the case, but I thought that was interesting. And then the day after, or maybe two days after, I was talking to somebody in the gardening trade, and we were chatting, and they said um that business had been very quiet, even though the weather, you know, at the moment we're still we're still getting good dry weather, typically speaking. There's little bits of rain here and there, temperatures are warm, there's certainly still lots of growth out there. And they said that it you know has been very quiet and that nobody's really planting stuff. And again, that just sinks in, and I just think about it a little bit, and it's interesting. Um and just to put a bit of bit of context on it, like if you went back sort of 20 years ago, certainly to my days of studying horticulture, what was always taught and promoted was that the autumn period, which you know typically from September through to you know the end of October is the best time of the year to plant trees and shrubs. Now, obviously, you kick into bare root season towards the end of that, and that you know that gives you another window. But in terms of planting trees and shrubs, that window of September to October was always what was the best period and is the best period, and I'll explain why in a little bit. So that is the best period for planting trees and shrubs, but I think the general perception out there, or certainly with you know, with not very experienced gardeners, is that that's kind of the period where it's too late for gardening. So that's interesting, and I kind of know why that has happened. Certainly here in Ireland, there was if you again if you went back in time to a garden centre of 20 years ago, you would have your plant label a lot more basic than what you see now in terms of colourings and all that, but it would say on it uh time of year to plant September, October. And I know at that time that that was sort of the optimum time, and it is the optimum time. And then I guess the gardening industry would have said that we're really confining our planting season to such a small window by saying this on the label, and people, you know, garden writers, there wouldn't have been anybody doing podcasts at the time, but or YouTube at the time, but the books, the newspaper articles, the sort of radio slots, all of those were promoting September and October as the the time to plant. And then as I said, the industry felt that this was confining all this planting into a small window. So now if you look at a label, it either doesn't say the best time to plant or it says plant all year round. So that led to over the years, and it takes time because you know people, as I said, people knew at that time that the best time to plant was you know that window, and then over time that sort of changed, and now you see it is all year round. So people know now that you can plant pretty much all year round, but they tend to do that now in spring and summer because that's when it's nice, you know, that's when it's nice to go out and garden, that's when you perceive the start of a gardening season as as uh springtime and summer is your you know gardening season as well. But the it has sort of got that that autumn period has sort of got forgotten about, and it is the best time of the year. So for anyone that's listening, and I know many of you are you know pretty experienced gardeners, some of you are newbie gardeners because over the last couple of months a lot of you have got in touch saying that you're new to gardening, that you found the podcast for the first time, and how it's helping you and so on. And you know, no matter which category you fall into, this window that we're in at the moment, you know, right up to the end of October and into November, is by far the best time of the year for planting trees, shrubs, and so on. And the reason being is that if you like take shrubs, for example, or trees, um, in the springtime, they're putting a lot of energy upwards, you know, from away from the roots, up into producing leaves and then producing flowers in some cases. And all that energy comes up through the plant and is getting pushed up to the top parts of the plant, out to the extremities of the growing tips, and pushes out the leaves, pushes out the new growth, pushes out the the energy for for that season. And during that time, when you pop your plant in the ground, it doesn't put as much emphasis on the plant, you know, by its nature is not putting much emphasis on establishment of roots, which is the most important thing, especially especially for anything that has sort of big growth up on top. And for that reason, this period of year is brilliant because the plant is naturally slowing down, albeit that that sometimes that gets changed a little bit because you know they're being grown in in certain conditions in greenhouses and you know being made to look good on a certain day, hitting the shelves and so on. But aside from that, the natural life cycle of most of these plants is to be slowed down at this time of the year, to be dropping leaf, to be changing from the high energy to the top to the energy being in the base. And it's at this time of the year that plants will naturally look to, I suppose, root growth and root establishment. So for that reason, it's a brilliant time of the year to plant. So if you can imagine now getting a deciduous tree, you know, deciduous tree is one that loses its leaves in the winter time. If you can imagine getting a deciduous tree at this time of the year, it has changed color, you know, it has gone through its autumn colour phase. In some cases, the leaves are completely dropped off at this stage, and the energy is not going upwards, it's not been forced upwards. So when you pop that in the ground, and especially when you have relatively mild conditions like you have at the moment, it will the plant will, over the next little period of time, now it slows down completely once we get into the real winter months. You know, here in Ireland you're talking about December, January, where you're you might get sort of prolonged cold and and wet. Um and when you get those conditions, nothing happens. But for the next for the next six or eight weeks, there's a real chance to start to put on some root growth and establish. And as I say, obviously the the bare root window is coming up and that sort of takes advantage of that. But for for containerized planting, those months of September and October have always been and will always be the best period in terms of the plant to plant. Now that doesn't mean that you can't plant all year round, as the labels tell you now, they can and you can, but you need to you need to just recognize that what the plant needs at that time of the year is different. So, for example, at this time of the year, if you plant a tree, just to give that example again, there's typically going to be good moisture in the ground. Temperatures up on top are less, so we're not getting really warm temperatures, so you're not getting transpiration up on top. The plant is not sending all its energy upwards, so there's no requirement for huge amounts of water, but any water that is required is already there and in the ground. So, in terms of aftercare, you don't have to do anything. If you plant that same tree, let's say in April time, so typically speaking, in April time, and I know it can vary, all of the energy is growing up, going up into the plant, it's pushing out to the leaves to bust out those buds, to push out that year's growth, so right out to the growing tips. All the energy is going upwards. As those leaves open up, they all require a good level of moisture to open up, to push out, and to push out the growth and the leaf burst and all of those things. And at that time of the year, we can get a lot of drier weather. Uh, you can get periods where it runs for six, eight, ten weeks with with not much rain. And at that stage, you're going to have to basically give it everything that it needs to push out that growth on top. So you can plant it by all means at that time of the year, and it is you can still very doable. But as we've said on the podcast before, you have to you you have to basically tend to those quite a lot more than something that you will plant at this time of the year. So it's interesting that you know, as I said, the first person thought that you you actually can't, it's not physical physically possible, or it's not the right time to plant. It absolutely is, it's the best time. And then, you know, the person that was working in in the gardening industry, and they were saying that people are just not planting at the moment, and that's not, you know, uh a 2025 phenomena, that's something that has happened for or has been happening for years, where people just stop sort of planting at this time of year because mostly, especially if you're if you're um it's actually something another conversation was like, what is gardening and what is a gardener or what constitutes a gardener, but at the moment people who perceive gardening uh they feel that it's only done in certain periods of the year. Many of us who are you know learning, who are either relatively good gardeners or seasoned gardeners or are you know novice gardeners who are learning all the time. We all know that there's something to be done all year round. Um, but for somebody who is like the per like the person that person that asked me the first question, they wanted to put some trees, hedges, shrubs, so on around a new house, they're first-time gardeners, they haven't done it before, and I suppose that's you know, this is they're the type of people that can really find benefit from the podcast. So definitely this time of the year is a superb time to plant. Uh without a doubt, the best time to plant, and that's you know, talking about containerized stuff. If you look ahead to next month or even in the coming weeks, we'll be looking at root balls, root ball plants, which are going to be coming out, and we're going to be looking at bare root then very, very shortly afterwards, and that's bare root, fruit bushes, hedging, trees, and all of those things. And yeah, we've covered that on the podcast. And we'll probably cover it again this year, maybe. We've covered it with different nurseries, might get a different nursery on for this year's episode. Um, but just just to be aware that this is definitely the best time of the year to plant. It's uh hugely beneficial to get the plant into the ground at this stage, especially as I said, trees. If you picture a tree going in now, with the ground temperatures being quite mild, quite warm, that's gonna it's gonna look to do no growth up on top, and it will definitely push out some root growth. Mightn't be a lot, but it'll be a small bit of root growth over the coming weeks and the coming sort of six weeks to two months, and that small amount of root growth will really, really stand to it next spring. It'll get established a lot lot quicker. Um so you know, even you get good warm temperatures through February and March, again, the root growth will continue. The plant still won't be looking to push out leaves, and by the time it's looking to push out leaves up on top, you know, the roots will have got somewhat established. So definitely without a doubt, um, if you have if you have if you are thinking of planting, it's a superb time of the year to do it. So it's in terms of the topic that I wanted to cover, it's a relatively short episode. Um, yeah, that conversation around what is gardening, what do you classify as gardening, that's an interesting one. It's something I might cover in the coming weeks. But what I wanted to talk to you about now is the Christmas gifts for gardeners. So cover this episode on the podcast every year, and it's interesting. There's topics or products or gifts that come up on that that kind of repeat every year, but I've brought somebody different on every year to cover this, and it really is interesting. So, shout out to listeners. I'm looking for two people. Uh, last year, and I think the year before, I've had two females on. Obviously, from my point of view, I have the male perspective, but I would like to have another male listener on. So, anyone who wants to come on the past on the podcast, so it'll be video and audio will be used. Um, so we just chat. Anyone that listens to the podcast for a while will know that it's just conversation. We have a couple of lists, we talk about what we might like. Tends to be a wish list for people as well, and you can drop hints. Last year, it went out the last like the heading for the end of November. Feel that's a little bit late, so I'm going to try and get it out kind of early to mid-November this year. But what I'm looking for is I'm looking for uh a female listener of the podcast who has some gift ideas for gardeners for Christmas that they would like to talk about, and a male listener of the podcast who might like to come on and share that list. The list tends to be very different from my point of view. I regularly talk about you know machinery and leaf blowers and you know that sort of stuff, and then the ladies tend to come on and mention things like gardening aprons, the books that they love, um, nice pretty things, and yeah, it tends to be various uh different lists, but it's nice to have different perspectives. And I suppose from my point of view, the last couple of times I've done it, I've had two female listeners on on both occasions, and it would be nice to have a a different male perspective rather than my own. So if you're a listener, male or female, just send me a message on Instagram, send me an email to info at mastermygarden.com, um, just say that you'd like to come on. And uh first two people, first two people that come on, I'll uh we'll do an episode together. So you can you know come up with a list of whatever it is, eight or ten products, and then we just chat and we go conversational, we talk about the pros and cons, where people might get them, you know. So if there's favorite gifts that you like, or you know, if there's something that you you like to promote, even yeah, no problem. Talk about them if there's somebody local to you that creating local local sort of crafts or sustainable gifts, they're all brilliant ideas. So, whatever that is, just let me know. So send me a message on Instagram or send me an email to infomastermylgarden.com. We'll be recording it in the next couple of weeks and then it'll go out hopefully by definitely out by the middle of November to give people time, I suppose, to get shopping after that. In terms of anyone that's following along on the grow along, so on my grow long and the seeds that I sowed, kind of mixed results. So we definitely have had no sunshine whatsoever here in about 10 days, and that seems to be not helping the growth. Germination on about half of the seeds has been very good, and I've had no germination on some seeds, which isn't unusual too much, it can happen. Um if it if it's still if I still haven't got germination in another week, I will be concerned about the quality of the seed potentially. So we'll keep an eye on that over the next week or so. But there's some of them then that will be ready for sort of pricking out and moving to the next stage, and at that point I will do another video and show that process. If any of you are, I know some of you had lots of windowsills full of seedlings or of trays of seeds, so let me know how they're going for you. Um as I say, mixed mixed germination so far, some very strong, some not so good. Um, but we'll keep an eye on that. But definitely we're ready nearly to move to the next stage. If you are in the same situation as me where you've sowed seed and some haven't germinated, don't worry because, as I said in that video, certain seeds can germinate sporadically, as in you might get one germinated this week and then another one mightn't germinate for two weeks' time. There's some of them then that are quite slow and some that are fast. And so you might look at one tray and say, Oh, that's doing really well, and then you look at the tray beside it, there's nothing happening. That's normal as well. Certain varieties are very, very quick to germinate, others are slow to germinate. Hopefully, fingers crossed, they will all come. Um, unless, as I say, you do have sometimes it can happen, it might be a batch of seed that something has happened with, you know, and it's not a big thing. It does happen sometimes, something doesn't work out, and that's the the beauty of it. So we're still, as I say, it's going pretty well. A lot of germination, but certain varieties are slow, um, and potentially there might be something wrong there, but not to worry. The other thing to watch out for, I definitely had it this week myself. I noticed on some of the Achillea seedlings there was a little bit of a slug trail there, so I had a look under the trays, and yes, there was those two culprits under there. So just got rid of those out of there, just watch for that. That's a big thing at this time of the year, because the slugs will be starting to look to move inwards, so they'll go into your coal frames or into your zippies or into your covered areas, trying to get a little bit of protection, and then obviously you have these nice little seedlings there as well. So just watch out for that. I'll cover all that now when I do the video anyway. So I'll do the next video and show the the next stage, probably in about a week or ten days' time, and yeah, that'll take us to I suppose that'll be stage one and two, and then we'll have stage three in the springtime. So yeah, hopefully, hopefully it's all going well for you. Keep me posted, let me know if you have any queries, and uh definitely shout out, need two listeners to come on the Christmas Gifts for Gardeners episode, which will be recording the coming weeks. So, one male, one female, hopefully speaking. I'd like to get a little bit of balance there that it's not just uh my male view all the time, and we get maybe some different ideas coming through. So that's been this week's episode, rather short, as I say, inspired by uh a question, or not a question, but a comment from from somebody I was chatting to that it's too late to plant. It's absolutely not. It's by far the best time deer to plant. Uh, we've changed things over the years, you know, and you can plant all year round, but the very, very best window, the one that will give you the most success, and the one that will give you the most success with the least effort from your point of view. You won't have to water, you won't have to tend to them, just plant them. If they're in the case of trees, plant them, stake them, and then forget about them, and they will they will grow really, really well. Root in and then be ready to go in the springtime. So, yeah, definitely don't don't uh don't think that it's too late. It's it's definitely not. We'll chat about bare roots in the coming weeks, that's another another important window. Um other jobs over them at the moment, things like planting of garlic and onions. I have all my garlic and onions here, but I haven't planted any of them yet. Um probably we'll do it in the next week or so. No, no real panic there either, but definitely in the coming weeks. Uh winter, winter greens, all doing really well. Um very good growth though, still. I've planted I sold some radishes a few weeks ago. They're actually starting to bolt already in the polytunnel, which I'm a little bit surprised at. I was kind of expecting that they just sit there and be able to nibble at them as as the months went on, but no, they're still growing because temperatures are still quite mild, they're still growing and going to seed a little bit. But uh, yeah, that's uh that's this week's episode. Definitely a great time to plant, so don't rule it out. If you have any ideas, any ideas, or you want to stick in trees or hedging, now is a great time to do that. Um, next week's episode is recorded, it's got to be a good one. A couple of episodes coming up on seed saving. We're definitely going to be doing something on bear root, and obviously the Christmas gifts for gardeners will be coming up in the coming weeks as well. So that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening, and I'll tell you next time. Happy gardening.