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 Fall is also the time when the colors of summer begin to succumb,
and your flowering plants can start to dwindle in the cool night
air. Taking them out of your landscape can leave you feeling that
you have stripped you lawn of all its glory. But, there are plenty
of opportunities to bring a fall splash of color back into the
landscape and give your lawn a new personality.
Mums are a perfect option for fall color. The hardy plants will
survive the early frosts and light freezes of fall, and keep your
lawn looking bright and beautiful for several weeks. These plants
are readily available this time of year at several locations
throughout the county.
It is also a great time to build your own little fall harvest
display. Building a display in your lawn, or on your porch can be as
simple or complex as you wish, but you want to keep in mind the size
of the area you have to work with, and your budget.
 Overloading a small space can leave your place looking cluttered
instead of clustered, so before you shop, do some thinking about
what it is you really want for your fall décor.
See what is out there for the asking, taking or buying
Corn shocks can make an excellent starting point for your fall
décor. These are often available for sale at farm stands and
farmer’s markets. But, if you know a friend who farms, maybe you
could ask for a few stalks of corn from their field. Cat Tails can
also make for great decorating indoors and out. If you know someone
with a pond lined with the wild plant, perhaps that person would let
you cut a few.
Also there are some roadside weeds that can make for attractive fall
decoration. Teasel and Golden Rod are just a couple that come to
mind. The bad side of using plants like these and the cat tail is as
they dry out, they ‘shed’ or ‘burst’ spreading their beauty to
places nobody wants to see them. You can prevent this by spraying
the plants with cheap hair spray or clear shellac.
For indoor use, brush your cat tails with decoupage glue then
sprinkle them with glitter to give an extra burst of glitz and color
to a fall centerpiece.
Another good filler for a fall basket is plumes of Pampas Grass. In
this area, there seems to be a lot of the feathery plumed plants
growing in yards. So see if you have a friend that might let you,
cut a few from the center of the bushes.
Straw bales are also neat for fall displays outdoors. Bales are
available at farm supply stores such as Big R in Lincoln, and also
at farm markets such as Gail’s Pumpkin Patch near Beason. At Gail’s
they offer bales in three sizes, so you can pick and choose what you
need according to the space you want to fill.
Pick out a few pumpkins and gourds, add a stick scarecrow and you
have the perfect display of fall for your yard.
As Halloween approaches, add a carved pumpkin or two and you’re
covered. Beware though not to use flames in the pumpkins that are on
this display as straw and corn stalks are flammable. Instead use a
battery operated tea light inside the pumpkin, or use solar powered
spotlights to shine a light on the entire display at night time.
Tips for carving pumpkins
Draw, score, carve – Before you cut, draw the shapes you want to
carve in your pumpkins. Then using a sharp short blade paring knife
or an exacto knife, score the outline through the skin of the
pumpkin. Breaking through the skin is the hardest part. Scoring
first will make it easy to carve your pumpkin without having an
“oops” moment with the knife. Also, the wall of the pumpkin can be
quite thick. Sometimes it is to your benefit to repeat the scoring
process, each time going a little deeper into the wall of the
pumpkin.
Delay decay - Once the pumpkin is cut, the decay process speeds up.
There are a couple of things you can do to slow it down. Lighting
your pumpkin using battery operated tea lights reduces the heat
inside the pumpkin and helps keep it from drying out. Rub petroleum
jelly around all the cut edges of the carving. The jelly will serve
as a water seal, again, helping to slow down the drying out and
decaying process.
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Carving a pumpkin can be very exciting for kids, but it can also be
dangerous. Instead of leaving your child to watch the grown-up
process, consider a second pumpkin and a box of magic markers. Let
the kids do their own art on a pumpkin while you do the carving.
Be aware of your budget
It is very easy to get caught up in the moment when you visit a farm
stand all decked out with pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. So,
before you go, decide how much money you have to spend, and stick to
it. One good way to do this is use cash. Have in your wallet or
billfold only what you intend to spend and resist the urge to pull
out the debit or credit card instead. Having cash is good idea even
if you aren’t on a budget. While some established businesses will
take debit and credit, vendors at farmer’s markets and roadside
stands probably don’t. Add one thing that will last forever
Whether it be an indoor or outdoor display you’re working on, it can
be a little frustrating to realize that while you are on a budget,
most of what you are buying is going to be thrown away at the end of
its usefulness.
For families on a budget, the best thing to do might be to add one
forever piece each year to your collection of holiday decorations.
There are simply hundreds of options out there for what to buy and
where to buy it. So pick and choose carefully, and before you buy,
think about where you’re going to put the decoration after the
season. It’s easy to get caught up in buying something large and
lovely only to find that when Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to
think about Christmas, you have nowhere big enough to store your
treasure.
Consider edible table décor
Fall is the perfect time to load a pretty bowl, crock or basket with
the warm tones of red and golden apples to create a simple and
edible centerpiece for your table. Apples will shine up easily with
a soft disposable dust cloth and will not add any chemical residue
to the fruit, so it is still edible. Be sure to have a few extra on
hand to make up for the ones that get swiped and eaten from your
basket. Also, don’t put the spare ones in the refrigerator as that
will cause them to sweat when you bring them out for your
centerpiece.
After Halloween and before Thanksgiving an edible cornucopia can be
fun and attractive. Visit the grocery store and choose potatoes, red
and green peppers, a couple of carrots and a turnip or two and you
have the perfect fall harvest arrangement. Purchase a single sprig
of fall colored leaves from a local floral department such as at the
Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, or Wal-mart. Cut the leaves off the main
stem and scatter them around your arrangement for that extra pop of
fall color.
If your arrangement has to be moved at meal time, consider putting
it together on a large platter or tray, so you can pick it up and
move it at any time.
Regardless of what you do to bring some color and life into the fall
season, be sure that you are decorating for yourself. Pick the
things that you enjoy, and don’t get caught up in what others are
doing, or what the magazines tell you is “fashionable.”
Whether it be whimsical or silly, or stylish and sophisticated, the
best decoration will be the one that is a reflection of your
personality.
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