(Megan Kennelly, KSU Plant Pathology)
My family did a campfire and cooked our first pot of chili in awhile – it’s really feeling like fall! We have a few weeks remaining in October, and between now and Halloween is still a great time to plant trees and shrubs. Here are some articles with tricks of the trade before you trick-or-treat:
Nice summary from Johnson County:
https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/trees-shrubs/planting-trees-shrubs-in-fall.html
Excellent nuts and bolts of tree planting:
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF3313.pdf
A few more details on methods:
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/mf402.pdf
Watering new trees and shrubs:
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF2800.pdf
Now, with all that, truly your most important FIRST step is deciding on what to plant. If you have not yet done your research on that question, here are some more resources on tree and shrub selection.
Trees and shrubs for difficult sites:
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF2205.PDF
Trees for Northeast Kansas:
https://www.kansasforests.org/community_forestry/community_docs/NE%20Kansas%20Preferred%20Trees.pdf
Trees for Northwest Kansas:
https://www.kansasforests.org/community_forestry/community_docs/NW%20Preferred%20Trees122016.pdf
Trees for Southwest Kansas:
https://www.kansasforests.org/community_forestry/community_docs/Pref%20Trees%20SW.pdf
Water-wise plants for south central Kansas:
https://www.sedgwick.k-state.edu/gardening-lawn-care/documents/Water%20Wise%20Plants%202015.pdf
