Time for a Fall Wall Clean-Up!

Fall 

is an incredibly busy time of year on our homestead! We are harvesting and preserving food for winter, continuously sowing plants for fall and winter harvests, prepping our barns and animal shelters for the cooler weather, cleaning summer crops out of the garden, and doing a ton of general maintenance on the property!

I’ve gotten a lot done this fall! But, sadly, one thing I definitely fell behind on was my Planted Wall! The poor thing looked positively overgrown and unloved! So, it was time to polish it up and give it some attention!

If you are like me, your wall and potted plants may also be craving some love! Now is a great time to take a couple of hours to do some maintenance before the holiday craziness and the cold of winter really sets in!

Here’s The Quickest Way To Get Your Plants Back Into Tip-Top Shape Before Winter!

1. Gather all of your potted plants and your plants from the wall. Assess and group your plants into the following categories:
   1. Plants that are overgrown or past their prime
   2. New seedlings that need to be planted
   3. Mature plants (primarily your perennial herbs) that would benefit from being potted up
   4. Plants that are doing great but would benefit from the soil being amended
2. Work your way through each grouping of plants, caring for them as needed.
   1. For plants that are overgrown or past their prime:
      1. Remove the spent plants and toss or compost them.
      2. Dump the soil into a large container or tub. You can break it up, add worm castings and regenerate it to be used again.
   2. For new seedlings that need to be planted:
      1. Pot them up as usual!
   3. For mature plants (primarily your perennial herbs) that would benefit from being potted up:
      1. Fall is a great time to pot up your perennial herbs like sage, oregano and rosemary. Select a pot that is at least 20-40% larger than the existing pot. Place a couple handfuls of soil into the bottom of the new pot. Then, slowly loosen the plant’s roots from the felt pot by pulling the pot back away from the root ball. Once the plant and root ball is free, place it into the new pot. Fill with soil and adjust the placement of the plant as needed to keep the soil level consistent.
   4. For plants that are doing great but would benefit from the soil being amended:
      1. Top dress them with a couple tablespoons of worm castings or water them with worm casting tea! You can purchase them in the shop!
3. Clean up your old pots that you are no longer using by spraying them out and setting them in a good location to dry before storing them.
4. If you are using a Planted Wall, you may also want to clean your water tank. To remove any hard water build-up, you can mix up an apple cider vinegar and water solution in a spray bottle. Spray it on the areas with build-up and let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing it with a brush or sponge.  
5. Finally, move your wall and pots into an ideal location for winter.