Lets Talk Autumn Gardening Maintenance

Ah, autumn, the nights are drawing in, the days are getting cooler and we are spending less time in our garden. But that doesn’t mean that we should abandon our gardens until the spring. In fact, far from it. Everything that you do throughout autumn and winter will help you to prepare for next year’s spring and summer!

Continuous Clean-Up

The clean-up when you have a garden is continuous, and unfortunately autumn is a busy clean-up time!
Starting with the falling leaves. These mean that you are raking and sweeping throughout the whole season to ensure that they don’t cause your garden any issues. Add them to your compost heap to make use of them later.
Deadheading and digging out spent flowers are also a part of this continuous clean-up. While flowers that are past their best can go onto the compost heap, leaving them in situ does not improve the nutrients in the soil, they should be removed as soon as is feasible.
Keeping on top of the growth on your patio or decking can also help decrease the chance of moss forming. Whether this is a simple brush-off after the rain (use a stiff brush with some force) or a regular jetwash. We understand that you might not see the point in jetwashing before the winter, but this will help to reduce the growth over the winter and leave you with minimal work to get ready for summer.

Lawn Care

Early autumn, along with spring, is the perfect time to treat your lawn to a spot of TLC. From weed and feed to fresh grass seed, and even the perfect time to lay turf. However, keep an eye on the weather for each of these. Too dry and your turf might not take. Too hot and your lawn seed and your weed and feed will burn, too wet and it could wash away.
While the lawn might not be growing as quickly as it was in the summer, it is still continuing to grow. So you might be able to reduce the frequency of your mows, but you will still need to keep up with them.
Typically we can still see people mowing the lawn into late October. And with the severe weather we have been seeing this year, we couldn’t possibly advise on when to do your last cut. What we would advise, is to continue regular mows when the dry weather permits. But keep an eye on the forecast. The first sign of frost and we recommend that you retire your lawn mower until the spring.

Weed Care

While you might wonder why you need to start weeding in autumn, surely they will all die off during winter? Actually, by removing them in the autumn, and we mean root and all, it allows the frost to completely finish off any remnants and you can start afresh after the winter.
You can also still use weed killers to help rid your borders in time for the winter.
During the winter if you plan to fleece or cover any of your borders or pots, this will act as an incubation for weeds. This means that come spring they will already be thriving.

For more information on autumn garden care, or to discuss garden landscaping in Radley and Abingdon, please contact the team today who will be happy to help.