DJ Landscaping

The Gardening Year - Month by Month      Advice and Tips         Autumn (September 24th - December 21st)

September - Advice:

After the lull of activity at the end of summer, suddenly there are lots of jobs to be done in the garden, some of them urgent. The summer bedding will now be past its best, and it is time to think about replanting for a spring display. If there are early frosts, the transition between summer and autumn can seem abrupt, yet in some years fine weather can continue through to the end of the month. In September, you need to be especially alert to changing weather conditions to get one step ahead, so that everything that needs to be completed before the first frosts arrive is achieved.

Finish taking late cuttings as soon as possible this month and sow appropriate seeds while there is still residual warmth in the soil. Autumn is the best time to plant trees and shrubs, so plan your new plantings, organise ordering and buying and start planting as soon as there has been enough rain to make watering unnecessary. In some years this may not be until October.

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September - Jobs:

                         Let D.J. Landscaping help with your Turfing jobs    

Jobs that won't wait

Harvest fruit and vegetables when ripe. Store apples and pears for use over the winter.

• Sow hardy annuals to be overwintered outdoors as soon as possible in cold areas. They will probably require protecting over the winter with cloches or horticultural fleece.
• Sow parsley and chevril to provide leaves for winter and spring use. Put herbs in pots to force for early shoots next year. Harvest all basil since the leaves soon deteriorate as nights get colder.
• Plant out spring-flowering biennials including wallflowers and forget-me-nots in their flowering positions to give them a chance to establish before the winter.
• Plant prepared bulbs in containers for indoor display to ensure you have blooms over Christmas.
• Plant bulbs for spring-flowering in the garden. Give priority to daffodils as they begin their root growth earlier than most bulbs.
• Before the first frost lift tender or slightly tender perennials, such as argyranthemums, fuchsias and pelargoniums, to be overwintered under protection. If you do not have room to house many plants under cover, take cuttings of tender perennials to keep over the winter in case the parent plant dies.
• Move late-flowering chrysanthemums in pots into the greenhouse before the first frost.
• Bring in house plants that have been standing outdoors for the summer before the evenings become cold. Don't wait until the first frost is forecast.
• Cover summer bedding with several layers of horticultural fleece if it is still blooming well and frost is forecast. This protection may be sufficient to prolong the display for a little longer.
• Maintain pest and disease control so that you are not storing up problems for next year. Continue to remove weeds so that they do not shed seeds which will remain in the soil over the winter.                                                                                                                           Top

October - Advice:

October is one of the loveliest and most colourful months of the year. Many flowers are still in bloom; the autumn-flowering bulbs such as colchicums and nerines are at their best and many shrubs and trees are covered with bright berries and coloured leaves.

At the beginning of the month there is often an unusually fine spell of weather, with warm, clear sunny days, which shows both countryside and garden at their best.Night frosts are normal, particularly at the end of the month, but the mornings are often bright and sunny so things that normally go unnoticed, such as spiders' webs, suddenly become objects of beauty in the autumn garden.

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October - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Harvest fruit and vegetables. Apples and pears should be picked by the end of the month and maincrop carrots and potatoes should be lifted and stored for the winter.

• Sow hardy annuals, sweet peas and lettuces to overwinter under glass. Sweet peas can also be sown direct in the ground in mild areas and protected with cloches.
• Plant spring-flowering hardy annuals and biennials as soon as possible.
• Plant all evergreens, including conifers, by the end of the month.
• Plant window boxes and hanging baskets for winter interest.
• Plant spring-flowering bulbs in the garden and in containers.
• Plant lilies for summer flowering.
• Plant garlic, spring cabbages and Japanese onions.
• Lift tender bulbs, corms and tubers, such as dahlias and gladioli, and store in frost-free place.
• Check bowls of bulbs planted for winter flowering indoors. Do not let them dry out.
• Put winter protection in place around vulnerable border perennials and shrubs in cold regions. In milder areas this can wait for another month.
• Bring in pelargoniums and half-hardy fuchsias growing in tubs and pots outdoors.
• Net the pool to protect it from autumn leaves.
• Prepare the garden for winter; clear fallen leaves and other debris, store garden equipment, clean the greenhouse and put insulation in place to conserve heat.                              Top

November - Advice:

There are pockets of colour in a November garden: the trees still carry their autumn and winter berries, and there are late flowers in bloom in the border - the last roses, the pink nerines and the Michaelmas daisies. But November is the month when autumn gives way to the onset of winter and the garden becomes a less inviting place than earlier in the year.

There are always things to be done but the pace slows down and most jobs will wait a week or two - or even a month or more - if the weather is bad.It is a month to make the most of your greenhouse and house plants, although, on fine days, visiting other gardens or arboretums can still provide many hours of pleasure, education and inspiration.The timing of the most spectacular autumn tints varies from year to year, and depends on the weather, but early November is often the best month, when the hedges and woods are gloriously colourful. Berries on trees and shrubs have not yet had time to lose their sparkle and, with a few exceptions, have not yet been eaten by the birds.

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November - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Cover vulnerable plants growing outdoors with cloches or horticultural fleece if severe frost is forecast. Protect newly planted and susceptible trees and shrubs over the winter with windbreaks or by wrapping plants in hessian or horticultural fleece.

• Clear out and take under cover decorative containers that are not frost-hardy. Protect pots containing plants of borderline hardiness with insulation and by grouping them together in a sheltered spot.
• Check the pots and bowls of bulbs are being forced for Christmas and new Year flowering. Ensure they do not dry out or become waterlogged. Move them into a light but cool position indoors when the leaves reach about 2.5 cm (1 in) in height.
• Plant any remaining tulip and hyacinth bulbs in the garden without delay.
• Plant roses if conditions permit or heel in if the weather is very frosty. Prune climbers and ramblers and cut back hybrid tea roses and floribundas to reduce damage from windrock.
• Cut the lawn for the last time this year and clean and store the lawnmower.
• Prune wisteria to ensure and increase flowering next year.
• Prepare for autumn and winter gales by removing dead or decaying branches on established trees and checking that recently planted trees are well staked and ties are secure. Also check fences, trellis and other structures supporting plants to make sure they will stand up to high winds.
• Clear fallen leaves and other debris so slugs, snails and other pests have nowhere to overwinter. Use fallen leaves to make leafmould.
• Deal with any pests or diseases left exposed when plants lose their leaves.
• Harvest vegetables including the first Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbages, endives, spinach, turnips, swedes and Jerusalem artichokes.
• Consider installing a pond heater to keep a small area of water ice free if you keep fish.

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December - Advice:

With preparations for Christmas and New Year celebrations in train, gardening usually goes on the back burner in December. For anyone who works away from home during the week, there are few days in which it is possible to get out into the garden. Indeed, with the shortening days and onset of winter weather, there may only be one or two weekends when it is suitable for gardening outdoors.

Fortunately, this is a time when an enormous number of house plants are sold, so your home should be bright and colourful even if there are very few flowers out in the garden. And there are plenty of armchair gardening jobs to be done: looking through the seed and bulb catalogues to select new plants you intend to grow; planning how you are going to redesign or rearrange the garden; or just reading the latest gardening books and magazines.                                                              Top

December - Jobs:

Jobs that won't wait

Order or buy seeds as soon as possible - especially seeds of those plants that should be sown in mid and late winter so that they have a long growing season.

• Check bulbs being forced for Christmas and New Year flowering. Do this regularly to ensure they do not dry out and make certain they are given light and warmth at the right time.
• Protect any shrubs of borderline hardiness, especially in cold regions. Even if some damage has already been done, it may not be too late to provide protection as the majority of garden shrubs will grow out of limited frost and wind damage.
• Take winter hanging baskets under cover, either into the greenhouse or porch, before very severe weather arrives. Baskets are particularly vulnerable because the compost in them is exposed to cold from all sides and can freeze solid.
• Bring under cover herbs potted up for forcing.
• Check on the condition of stored apples and pears.
• Lift chicory for forcing, pot up and keep in darkness in a warm place. Also lift rhubarb roots for forcing indoors, and start forcing selected crowns outdoors.
• Lag or protect outdoor pipes if not already done. Better still, turn off the supply and drain the pipes.
• Knock snow off branches of shrubs, conifers and hedges to prevent them breaking under the weight.
• Keep an area of the pond ice free if you keep fish.                                                    Top

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