Fall is an ideal season for planting trees, shrubs and other assorted plants as a part of the landscape design for your Gaithersburg, MD home. Why?

The cooler, wetter weather is the perfect time for tree planting.  This is because the soil stays warm even after the air temperature cools, and that encourages root growth. During shoot dormancy, trees grow to establish roots in new locations before warm weather stimulates top growth.

Therefore, planting trees and shrubs in fall enables the root systems to grow before the hot summer returns. Trees planted in the fall are better equipped to deal with heat and drought in the following season. Your smaller plants will be established before winter sets in, and get a head start over shrubs in the spring. Larger plants will also get a head start since a general rule of thumb is one year per one inch of trunk diameter.

Another great reason to plant in the fall is because you can pick your trees and shrubs by the fall color they produce. Some tree species that are recommended for fall planting include the maple, buckeye, horse chestnut, alder, catalpa, hackberry, hawthorn, ash, honey locust, crabapple, spruce, pine, sycamore, linden and elm.

Planting can begin in September through November, but should not go too late into the fall, since the shrubs and trees won’t have as long to grow their root systems before the first hard freeze.

For more information on adding trees and shrubs to your landscape design in Gaithersburg, MD, please contact East Coast Landscape Design. A successful landscape installation begins with a solid design that includes a balanced choice of plants, shrubs, and trees for your Gaithersburg, MD property. Every East Coast installation is completed with the utmost care and attention that you expect from a professional landscape company like East Coast Landscape Design.