As the sun dips lower, things get busy in the garden again. The autumn harvest needs gathering in, and late summer flowers are at their best - so gear up and get stuck in to this month’s jobs around the garden.
General tasks:
Clean the greenhouse or Polytunnel after clearing spent tomato and cucumber plants, washing the glass or plastic thoroughly and disinfecting benches and pots.
Feed established lawns with low-nitrogen feed to encourage plenty of root growth ahead of winter.
Cut back perennials that flowered earlier in the year and have reached the end of their displays for this season
Remove unwanted branches and limbs from trees to maintain a good shape
Top dress pots that have shrubs in them, add an All Purpose Garden Fertiliser to give them a boost before the colder weather sets in.
Ornamental garden:
Feed, feed, feed!! Summer bedding plants in window boxes and baskets etc can be given a few good feeds to ensure continuous blooms...remember they are good until the first frost!
Keep up with dead-heading, removing faded blooms to encourage flowerbuds to keep coming until the first frosts.
Plant paperwhite narcissi in pots of free-draining compost ready to force for sweetly-scented flowers this Christmas.
Plant new shrubs, trees and perennials while the soil is still warm and rain is likely, so they’re well established before winter sets in.