Autumn Gardening Jobs

Posted on October 3, 2022 in Gardening

Summer is over and the nights are drawing in but there’s a lot you can do now to help your garden survive the much colder months. To prevent any unfortunate horticulture casualties, here is our selection of simple, but effective gardening jobs for the season ahead. Use this Autumn Gardening Jobs checklist but remember that these tasks are designed to be completed over autumn. There’s no rush to finish them all in one go and plenty of time to schedule them in around those inevitably rainy afternoons.

Garden clearance

This involves the slightly laborious task of leaf sweeping and picking up debris that has started to fall as summer sadly comes to an end. Clear any leaves from paths and paving slabs to stop people slipping on them.

Remember to create small piles of debris and twigs throughout your garden to give homes to insect life and invertebrates. These piles needn’t be in places where everyone can see them – a collection of leaves and twigs under the shed will provide a perfect hibernation spot for insects and hedgehogs.

Soil preparation and planting

Dig the soil over, feed it with bone meal fertiliser where necessary and prepare it in larger areas for frost to break it down. Clear any dead bedding plants, carry out any needed soil drainage and replace with quality compost or manure for winter bedding. You can also plant wallflowers and pansies for spring display in addition to bare-rooted plants ordered from nurseries, such as peonies and roses.

Scarify the lawn

Scarify your lawn by removing built up dead grass, weeds and moss from the lawn’s surface using a metal rake. You should also consider aerating the lawn, which helps the roots to grow deeply and produces a stronger lawn. Go over it with a mixture of sharp sand and good soil, being sure to fill any holes. If you need a new lawn, prepare for it to be laid now – autumn is the ideal time.

Seasonal pruning

Hedges need a good tidy up now, especially if they’ve been neglected over summer. It’s also time to prune your fruit trees to stimulate the formation of fruit buds and flowers. This should be followed by a final prune in November before winter sets in. Once you’ve given your hedges a trim remember to water to keep them in good condition.

Plan any changes to the plant scheme

Create spaces for new trees and shrubs and also transplant items to fit your new garden design. Make sure to keep weeds and grass away from the perimeter of where the new plants will be growing as this will help them to grow faster.

Cut down and divide perennials

Perennials will likely have run out of steam when autumn comes around. Decide on the layout of your garden that you want to leave for winter and cut down the remaining perennials when they have finished flowering.

It is also the time to take offshoots from perennials that may have outgrown their allotted space and either pot them ready for next spring or place them in appropriate bare spots in the garden. They’ll stay dormant until next year but provide a cosy shelter for wildlife over winter.

Do a pre-season wind check

Now is a good time to check if any plants need a windbreak or protection. Plants can be protected from the cold with horticulture fleeces or moved to drier and more sheltered areas. You could also look at your fencing and decide whether any repairs are required before it gets too cold to make repairs.

We hope you find the above Autumn Gardening Jobs checklist useful however if you have any questions please call one of our friendly team on 0845 604 1288.

Protech Property Solutions specialist in the service delivery of communal garden maintenance and lawn care. Please visit Protech Garden Solutions for more information.