Autumn Gardening To Do List!

If you garden year-round you will reap the rewards! While the evenings are getting darker earlier and the cool autumn air is making an appearance, there are still plenty of gardening jobs to be done over the winter. Here are a few that will leave your gardens ship shape in no time! Get Started in September

• Collect seeds from your favourite garden plants. The seed cases should be fully ripe, dry and about to burst (don't forget to label them!).

Photo Credit

• Harvest all ripe vegetables in the garden, lift and store onions and potatoes in hessian sacks.

• Keep dead heading plants & flowers and feeding your baskets and pots to encourage one last flourish of flowers.

• Top up bird feeders to encourage more birds to visit your garden.

Photo Credit

Beautiful Winter colour in October

• Plant containers for Winter Colour: Many evergreen shrubs provide colour and interest all year round. Skimmia Japonica, Handina Domestica, Leucothoe 'zeblid' and Scarcococca or Christmas Box are all great examples.

Photo Credit

• Underplant with Heathers, mini Cyclamen or Violas for vibrant, colourful containers through the Winter.

• Prune Tall Shrubs: Tall shrubs such as buddleja and bwatera, which are pruned hard in the Spring should now be cut back by about half their height to tidy up their appearance but also to prevent damage caused by strong cold Winter winds.

Photo Credit

• Dry Attractive Seedheads: Many plants such as Acanthus Spinosus (Bear's Britches), Poppies, Eryngiums and Globe Artichokes have beautiful seed heads which can be cut and dried for decoration in the home over Winter. Cut the seed heads off with plenty of stem and hang them up in an airy place to dry. Once dry you can spray them silver or gold for some festive colour.

Photo Credit

Time for bulbs in November

• Plant fruit trees and bushes this month to give maximum time to establish a good root system before next spring

• Get the hoe out! Weeding that is done now will save time in spring. All weed roots can thicken over the winter months making them more stubborn and a real nuisance when the weather warms up in March.

• Complete bulb planting this month (tuilps, daffodils, and muscari to name but a few). As herbaceous plants die down you can get between plants easier for better interplanting.

We hope you get to enjoy a beautiful garden this autumn and winter. Happy gardening and let us know how you get on :)