Fall is the season for roots

Today it’s all about roots, because fall is not only for planting … fall is for roots.

If you think back to your school years, you’ll recall learning that the job description of roots tells us they are responsible for the uptake of water and minerals, that they anchor the plant into the ground and are used for storage.

The uptake of water and minerals takes priority during the growing months: The more the plant can absorb, obviously the better it will grow. Anchoring the plant is a need the plant has throughout the year. The more top-heavy it grows with leaves and flowers, the more it will need to anchor itself firmly into the soil to keep it from tipping during high winds and heavy precipitation, be it rain, snow or ice. However, when it comes to storing food, that part of its job description has autumn written all over it.

As the days become shorter and temperatures become cooler, perennial plants (flowers, weeds, trees, shrubs and vines) sense it. The leaves in turn begin to re-route the sugar that they are producing through photosynthesis in their leaves, down to their roots. This process initiates dormancy.

The roots begin storing the sugar as starch until spring, when the plant calls for this stored energy to be routed upward to its branches to help unfurl the next growing season’s leaves and flowers. Full dormancy comes when this routing process is complete and outward growth has halted. Internally, biological processes continue, although at a slower pace throughout the winter months.

As gardeners, we can take full advantage of this time and with some timely pruning give our plants an edge come spring. An annual fall chore is to cut back our herbaceous perennials (those that die back to the ground and overwinter via their roots).

But why do we do that? Part of the reason is to remove the slowly dying top growth, which at this point is of no benefit to the plant anymore. Once removed, the slow drain it had on the roots has been curtailed, and the plant’s roots can now focus their attention on utilizing some of the sugars for their own personal growth.

This is why fall is considered such a great season for root development; the roots essentially have little else to do. Take, for example, the age-old tradition of trimming the vinca and pachysandra patch by setting the lawnmower up to its highest setting (usually about 6-inches) when mowing. By reducing the top growth, the roots expand, and come next summer that shabby patch of ground cover will be lush and dense.

Roots are also the part of the plant to respond favorably to cool temperatures. Transplanting and planting are highly recommended at this time of year for this reason. As a result, come next year the root system will be stronger, giving the plant an advantage over the plant planted in the warmer temperatures of spring.

Fall is also considered an opportune time to control perennial weeds like dandelion or ground ivy; they, too, are rerouting their sugars down to their roots for storage. If the dandelion and ground ivy are moving food downward, what better time to apply an herbicide? The plant basically does all the work by absorbing the herbicide, then transporting it downward with the sugars. Once in the root, a total kill occurs.

If you have applied weed control during the summer, typically you have achieved only a top kill, which allows the weed to re-grow. The absorbed herbicide did not travel down because the roots were still moving nutrients and water up to the leaves. As a result, the only part of the plant affected was the place where the herbicide was move … the leaves.

Although looking around we may see the growing season as coming to an end, the hidden roots are just beginning their busiest time of the year.

Nancy O’Donnell owns Perennial Graphics Nursery in Schaghticoke. Contact her at dodonnell@nycap.rr.com. Gardener’s Notebook can be found online at http://timesunion.com/life.

Article source: http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/Fall-is-the-season-for-roots-2172773.php