The gardening adage of "fall is for planting" becomes obvious as gardeners, inspired by mild autumn weather, begin preparing for new landscape plantings. Whether you're planting an entire new landscape or only a shrub or two, there are hundreds of different plants to choose from. It's important to know the characteristics of each plant you purchase, particularly for trees that will grow large.

Many lawns deteriorate from poor maintenance, inadequate drainage, heavy traffic, pest problems, weed invasions, or simply because the wrong grass species was planted. If localized areas of dead or dying grass have developed in your lawn, you may want to consider patching the spots, rather than doing a complete renovation.