JoAnne Skelly: Plant now for great deals and great spring growth

Fall is the best time of year for planting. Warm soils encourage root growth before the ground freezes, allowing for earlier, more vigorous root and top growth in the spring. Fall plantings, with already established root systems, will also be more tolerant of the summer heat than those planted in the spring. Take advantage of this beautiful autumn weather to visit our local nurseries including the Nevada Division of Forestry's Washoe Nursery and get planting!

The purpose of the NDF Nursery program is to provide technical assistance and native or adapted plant materials to encourage private landowners and public land management agencies to make conservation plantings for erosion control, greenstrips, post-fire rehabilitation, streambank stabilization, water conservation, wetland and riparian restoration, mine reclamation,

reforestation, wildlife habitat, windbreaks, shelterbelts or woodlots. We are all trying to conserve water in our landscapes and many of us plant to encourage wildlife. Who doesn't need a windbreak!

The Washoe Nursery has a variety of shrubs and trees currently available. Hardy drought-tolerant shrubs include silver buffaloberry, peashrub, cotoneaster, chokecherry, currant, dogwood, lilac, native plum, oakleaf sumac, Nanking cherry, Wood's rose and serviceberry. You can purchase deciduous trees such as green ash, bur oak and hackberry or evergreen trees such as Arizona cypress, Colorado blue spruce, Rocky mountain juniper and incense cedar to name a few. They even sell yarrow, blue flax, blanket flower and penstemon to add color.

Plants come in sizes ranging from D-pots to 5-gallon with prices ranging from $2.25 to $8.25.

The Nursery is open 8:30 a.m-3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and closed on legal holidays. It will be closed for the season Oct. 16 so take advantage of this last chance to purchase reasonably priced nursery stock. You can bring any empty growing containers to the Nursery for recycling. This will help them hold prices down.

More terrific reasons for fall planting are all the plant sales at our local retail nurseries. Go buy bulbs, because spring bulbs need fall planting. Plant trees to give them a strong start next year. If you do plant, remember you must keep the soil moderately moist until the winter precipitation begins and at least once per month throughout the winter if there is no snow or significant rain.

• JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and may be reached at skellyj@unce.unr.edu or 887-2252.