Emcy's Gardening Tips
Autumn Gardening
As the leaves start to change colour and the sunset creeps ever earlier, it's time to turn to the garden and do some jobs in preparation for the colder weather.
Garden Jobs
There are a number of jobs to complete around the garden during the Autumn months, as the changing leaves signify the end of Summer's hectic growing period it's time to tidy up, plan ahead and prepare the garden for Spring.
Bring in tender plants under cover before the first frosts can damage them. Conifers and Evergreens should be moved or planted while the soil still retains some warmth. Plan and begin to plant your Spring bedding and bulbs like snowdrops, crocuses, hyacinths and daffodils for a riot of colour in the New Year.
Tidy your perennials and dead head - but leave seed heads for the birds. Encourage wildlife into your garden with seed and suet feeders for the birds and tie up plants and ensure nothing can blow about and cause damage on stormy, windy nights.
Keep things tidy generally, now is the time of year when lots of leaves fall - these should be raked and composted to produce leafmould. Be sure to rake grassy areas to prevent them turning yellow.
Autumn Lawn Care
This time of year, it's common to give lawns a bit of TLC to make sure they are fit enough to get through the Winter. This wet summer we've had means they don't need as much revitalisation, but there's a chance that moss growth has increased with the wetter weather.
Start off by taking care of the moss, a straight moss-killer or and Autumn feed with moss-killer will do the trick here, and in a couple of weeks the moss will have died, ready to be removed. Remove any dead moss and thatch by raking vigorously with a spring-tined lawn rake or scarifier, this will help to improve drainage and discourage weed and moss growth. The collected material and debris can be put on your compost heap or disposed of in garden waste bin.
Improve drainage in your lawns to help prevent moss and weeds. Areas of heavy traffic can become compacted with detrimental effect on drainage. This can be improved by pushing a garden fork into the ground as far as you can, and wriggling it to make air channels. Repeat this roughly every 10cm across the lawn. You can then brush Lawn or Top dressing across this to fill holes and allow air and water into the lawn.
Perk up lawns with an Autumn feed. These are normally higher in phosphates and potash to encourage strong root growth. Don't be tempted to use Spring fertiliser, this has a higher nitrogen content to encourage soft green leaf growth which are at risk of frost damage.