At this time of the year when summer is over, and autumn is well and truly here our attention needs to be turned to the garden. Pots and planters are looking forlorn as flowers are finishing blooming and greenery is turning brown, and shrubs are calling out for a good prune, so it is time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck into some serious tidying.
The first area to tackle is the flower beds. Cutting back some of the perennials to get rid of any dead stems and flowers, digging out annuals that have finished flowering and digging in some well-rotted compost are the top jobs to complete. If you want to have early spring flowers then planting bulbs now in flower beds will need to be done.
Planters can look very unkempt at this time of the year, and it is easy to leave them until every plant has finished flowering but in order to keep patio areas looking good it is better to empty out the planters and replant with winter flowering plants or plant bulbs ready for the spring.
Finally, any lawned areas need to be given some attention to get them in good condition. Scarifying the lawn to remove any moss and to aerate the lawn is advisable then treating with an autumn lawn feed will make a big difference to the appearance of the lawn next year.