Autumn Gardening

Get your garden Autumn beautiful and Winter ready with these 5 simple tasks.

Emma
16 March 2016

 

Autumn is a lovely time to be in the garden, it's starting to cool but the sun is still shining (mostly) and the days are glorious. It's perfect for pottering around and getting ready for Winter and next Spring. Here are 5 garden tasks to carry out in Autumn:

 

Planting

Plant winter annuals to keep your garden gorgeous. Old fashioned beauties such as calendulas, violas, primulas and polyanthus flower over long periods.  Miniature cyclamen planted under a deciduous tree will flower for many years.

TIP: For a conversation piece, plant a bowl of spring flowering bulbs in a sunny spot and enjoy them over the coming months.

 

Take Cuttings

It's a great way to get free plants and we all love free things! You could swap with friends and neighbours to increase your plant variety or just spread your existing plants further in the garden. Now is the time to be taking cuttings from your hardwood herbs such as rosemary and bay or the natives such as banksias and grevillea.

• Remove the lower leaves
• Dip the cutting in hormone powder
• Pot in small containers of potting mix
• Keep moist and shelter from strong wind and sun

Divide you evergreen perennials by lifting from the soil, dividing at the root and re-planting, simple!

 

Pruning

TOP TIP: Make sure you have sharp tools, blunt tools could end up damaging the plant. Our Sharpener is perfect for getting your garden tools ready for the job.

Why Prune? Well... it removes the ugly dead bits and unhealthy diseased parts, it promotes flowering and fruiting and it creates a nice shapely, attractive plant.

When you prune, cut off any dead plant material and remove old flowers. Watch out for plants that have already got their spring buds such as Wisteria. If any of your plants are effected by diesease remove these parts but make sure that waste doesn't end up in your compost!

TIP: Try not to prune spent seed heads too quickly, they provide a wealth of food to visiting birds.

May is a good time to prune fruit trees except Apricot trees, they should be left until Spring. It's worthwhile learning about fruit tree pruning first, you don't want to accidentally cut off next years fruiting spurs! Clean up around the tress, remove dead leaves and old fruit to avoid harbouring pests and disease over winter.

Tip: To stop the spread of disease from one plant to another, always dip tools and secateurs in bleach or disinfectant and wipe them before moving onto the next plant.

Cut your hedges before winter to keep them compact and bushy.

For a more details on pruning see Why You Should Prune Your Garden

 

Lawn Care

Autumn is the perfect time to feed the lawn, ready for the cooler winter weather. The grass has slowed down with cold nights, but the roots are still growing well, so it's a great time for repair because the soil is warm. Use a slow release lawn food to develop a strong root system and thicker grass.

TIP: Aerate areas which have become compacted. Normally this means grabbing a fork, jabbing it in and loosening the ground. But you could always try strapping on aerating shoes and walking over the lawn!

If your lawn has weeds in it, give it a good weeding, you don't want the weeds taking over come spring!

 

Tidying

As the leaves start to fall on your garden and lawn try to gather them up as soon as you can to prevent them smothering your plants and grass. It's a good time to start composting if you don't already. Glenda Smith wrote a very helpful blog Make Your Own Compost And Garden Mulch

 

Carrying out these simple tasks will help you to have a wonderful garden in the coming months and don't forget Gardening Is Improving Your Health! What tasks do you carry out in the Autumn? Let us know in the comments below and please do share your garden photos with us on Facebook.

Happy Gardening!

Did you know? We don't just sell excellent hose fittings, we also have a fantastic range of Garden Tools too!

 

N.B. This article has been written for Australian gardens. If you're reading this from around the world, we do hope you've found it a useful stepping stone for your own further research.

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