Episode 3: Get ready for Winter?

Written By Colleen Dieter

🌿 What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (October 16–31)

Welcome back to The ATXGardens Podcast with landscape consultant and certified arborist Colleen Dieter of ATXGardens.com!
This episode is all about what to focus on in the second half of October—from smart leaf management and lawn care to cool-season veggies, herbs, perennials, bulbs, and how to time your planting before our first freezes.

🌼 Client Story: Big Yard, Big Oaks & Kid-Friendly Space

This week, Colleen met with Danielle and Alex in Buda, who have:

  • A huge yard with mature heritage oaks

  • Some struggling plants

  • Two kids (plus one on the way!)

  • A wish for a playable turfgrass area for their family

Instead of rolling out new sod over their tree roots, Colleen helped them:

  • Focus on one small zone where St. Augustine and Zoysia were already hanging on

  • Water and care for that patch so it can rebound

  • Avoid harming their valuable heritage oaks with new turf installation

If you’re trying to balance kids + trees + ecology, this episode gives you a realistic path forward.

🍂 October Garden Big-Picture Tips

In late October, your goal is to help plants slow down naturally and get ready for winter—not push fresh, tender growth.

  • 🚫 Don’t prune trees, shrubs, or perennials (beyond the tiniest tidy-up). Pruning now stimulates new growth and can reduce fall blooms.

  • 🚫 Skip fertilizer after October 1. Fertilizers push new growth that’s vulnerable to cold damage.

  • 🌿 Use compost, seaweed, and soil amendments instead. They support soil and roots without forcing plants to grow.

  • 🌱 Plant & transplant thoughtfully. Second half of October is your last big window for many plants before freezes.

🌳 Trees & Shrubs

October is still the best time to plant woody plants in Central Texas:

  • Trees

  • Shrubs

  • Woody vines (like native crossvine and Carolina jessamine)

  • Roses—including tough, low-maintenance “found roses”

Colleen’s favorite found/antique roses:

  • ‘Old Gay Hill’

  • ‘Highway 290 Pink Buttons’

  • ‘Katy Road Pink’ (also sold as ‘Carefree Beauty’)

Use fall to:

  • Plant woody plants as they go dormant, so they can establish roots before summer

  • Start watching your established trees as they drop leaves through October and November

Leaf wisdom & wildlife:

  • Keep as many leaves as you can on-site and use them as mulch around:

    • Trees

    • Fruit trees

    • Flower beds

    • Vegetable beds

Leaves:

  • Improve soil structure and moisture retention

  • Provide crucial winter habitat for butterflies, moths, fireflies, and other invertebrates

  • Protect overwintering eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalides that disguise themselves as dried leaves

Finding the balance:

  • Too many whole leaves can:

    • Smother small plants like cedar sage, columbine, and shade-loving perennials

    • Create extra-comfy habitat for Texas roaches right next to your house

  • Colleen’s rule of thumb:

    • Aim for about 3" of leaf mulch in most beds

    • Go deeper farther from the house

    • Lightly shred or relocate leaves near walkways and driveways

    • Use taller or more vigorous plants in zones where lots of leaves accumulate

Protect your hands while you work:

  • Raking can cause blisters—find Colleen’s favorite gardening gloves in the tools section at ATXGardens.com.

🍑 Fruit Trees

Fruit trees need a slightly different approach from your shade trees:

  • Rake up and remove:

    • Fallen fruit tree leaves (peach, apple, plum, pear, etc.)

    • Any leftover fruit on the ground

Why?

  • Domestic fruit tree leaves and fruit can harbor diseases that reinfect your trees next year.

Then:

  • Gather clean shade tree leaves from elsewhere in the yard

  • Spread them around your orchard area

  • Mow over them to chop and incorporate them into the soil

Shade tree leaves:

  • Add organic matter

  • Feed soil life

  • Won’t spread fruit-tree-specific diseases

🌸 Perennials & Bulbs

Second half of October is last call for warm-season perennials, bulbs, and ornamental grasses.

Warm-season perennials & grasses (like lantana, Indigo Spires salvia, trailing lantana, yellow bells/Esperanza):

  • Life cycle:

    • Grow in spring

    • Bloom in summer/fall

    • Die back in winter

  • If planted too late in fall:

    • They may not root deeply enough before a freeze

    • Tops may die and plants may not return in spring

  • Tropical-leaning perennials are especially vulnerable to late planting

Colleen’s advice:

  • If you already bought perennials, bulbs, or grasses → get them planted ASAP

  • If you haven’t purchased yet → wait until spring for most warm-season perennials and ornamental grasses

Cool-season perennials:

Now is prime time to plant cool-season perennials like:

  • White yarrow

  • Spiderwort

  • Lyreleaf sage

These plants:

  • Regrow from roots in fall

  • Stay green all winter

  • Bloom in early spring

  • Go dormant in summer

  • Thrive under trees, taking advantage of extra winter sunlight when branches are bare

Dividing plants:

Second half of October is your last chance to divide:

  • Perennials

  • Bulbs

  • Yuccas

  • Agaves

  • Clumping grasses

Need guidance?

  • Check out Colleen’s “Let’s Care for Texas Plants” three-volume maintenance booklet set at ATXGardens.com for diagrams and step-by-step division instructions.

🥕 Vegetables

There’s still time in late October to plant cool-season vegetables for winter harvests.

Direct-sow into the garden:

  • Fava beans

  • Arugula

  • Radishes

  • Swiss chard

  • Mustard greens

  • Turnips

  • Bok choy

  • Beets

  • Collards

  • Carrots

  • Lettuce

  • Kale

Pro tip:

  • Use successive sowings so you always have new crops coming up—harvest older plants while younger ones size up.

Transplant now:

  • Broccoli

  • Cauliflower

  • Cabbages

Last-chance crops:

  • Artichokes and cardoons as small plants

    • If you miss this window, wait until January and plant crowns instead

  • Onions from seed

  • Garlic cloves directly into the ground

  • Peas from seed

Freeze prep for veggies:

  • Freezes can hit as early as November 15

  • Cool-season vegetables can handle cold but still get set back by hard freezes

  • Damage = slower growth, fewer harvests, and higher pest/disease pressure

Support your veg with:

  • 1–2" of leaf or pine needle mulch

  • Floating row cover fabric for cold snaps

  • Cloches, upside-down mason jars, or blankets/sheets for extra-chilly nights

🌿 Herbs

Herbs love our mild winters—if you choose the right ones and protect them when needed.

Cool-season annual herbs to start now (from seed or small plants):

  • Cilantro

  • Parsley

  • Dill

  • Calendula

  • Fennel

  • Chamomile

  • Feverfew

These herbs:

  • Grow and thrive through fall and winter

  • Bolt, set seed, and finish when heat returns in spring

  • Benefit from a bit of cover during hard freezes (row cover, cloches, blankets)

Perennial herbs:

  • This is your last chance before winter to plant perennial herbs

  • Be cautious with cold-sensitive types like:

    • Certain lavenders

    • Some thymes

If planting in late October:

  • Be ready with freeze protection for early cold snaps—just like with perennials, they may not be fully established yet.

🌾 Lawns, Annuals & Wildflowers

Lawn care:

  • Lawns are heading into dormancy now

  • Give your grass a final mow for the season:

    • Set your mower deck as high as possible

    • Taller grass shades the soil and reduces winter weeds

    • Cutting too low exposes runners and roots to freeze damage and causes thinning

Reel mower users:

  • Great for your body and the planet—but they tend to cut too short

  • Borrow a standard mower for your last high cut

  • Clean wheels, deck, and blade before mowing to prevent spreading turf diseases (or dog-related pathogens)

Leaves on lawns:

  • Run your mower over fallen leaves to chop and leave them in place

  • Chopped leaves feed both trees and turf

  • Large, leathery leaves that don’t shred well should be:

    • Raked or vacuumed off the lawn

    • Used as mulch elsewhere

Colleen’s favorite small adjustable rake is available in the store at ATXGardens.com.

Annual flowers:

Mid-October is swap time:

  • Out: warm-season annuals like zinnias, coleus, pentas, purslane

  • In: cool-season annuals such as:

    • Pansies

    • Violas

    • Snapdragons

    • Sweet peas

    • Cyclamen

Colleen loves planting orange and dark-purple violas in a hanging basket just in time for Halloween.

Wildflowers:

Second half of October is the last chance to sow wildflower seeds.

Great last-minute choices:

  • Bluebonnets

  • Monarda citriodora (lemon beebalm / lemon horsemint)

But this year:

  • It’s been very dry, and without rain, wildflowers won’t thrive

  • If you decide to water:

    • Once seeds sprout, you must keep watering until rains arrive

    • If they dry out, they die

Most people plant wildflowers to save water and effort, so make sure your watering plan supports that goal—especially with La Niña likely bringing a drier winter.

🌻 Events & Classes

Mark your calendar for these Central Texas gardening events:

  • Oct 18 – Healing Roots and Wings Festival – Givens Park, Austin

    • Festival: 11 AM–4 PM

    • Colleen teaching Basic Organic Vegetable Gardening from 12–2 PM

  • Nov 1 – Central Texas Seed Savers Fall Festival Fundraiser – Greenlee’s Nursery, Pflugerville

    • Speakers: Nessa from MicroLife, Jay from Texas Gardener Magazine, and Colleen

    • Colleen’s talk: how seed sharing can help:

      • Prevent mass extinction

      • Support climate resilience

      • Cure loneliness through community

    • Food, drinks, raffles, and more

    • Ticketed fundraiser—proceeds support Central Texas Seed Savers

  • Nov 8 – Big Annual Seed Swap – Austin Public Library – Central (Downtown)

    • 11 AM–1 PM

    • Bring seeds to share—or just come and get seeds

    • Vegetables, trees, herbs, native plants, wild grasses…all welcome

    • Free; no registration required

  • Nov 8 (same day) – Pollinator Paradise – Garden Conservancy Open Days Tour

    • Pollinator-focused landscape designed by Colleen’s gardening bestie and co-host Leah Turner

    • Get a ticket, say hi to Leah—Colleen will stop by after the seed swap

  • Nov 17 – Tree Planting Talk – Williamson County Master Gardeners

    • 6:30 PM

    • Colleen presenting on proper tree planting techniques

Find full details and updates at ATXGardens.com/speaking-events.

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

🌼 Stay Connected

For more Central Texas garden tips, visit ATXGardens.com, follow Colleen on Instagram @ATXGardens_, and don’t forget to subscribe to The ATXGardens Podcast for biweekly updates straight from your favorite Austin garden consultant.

Colleen Dieter
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Episode 4: Deer Damage, Leaf Drop, and Fall Planting — Here’s What to Know
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Episode 2: Time to Enjoy