Gardening
Your autumn gardening to-do list
There was so much to do in the garden during the growing season, and there are still some jobs to do now that we’ve moved into autumn, like making over your containers and hanging baskets, or planting evergreen shrubs. Follow these steps from our Head Horticulturist Eamonn Wall and you will keep the garden looking well and stay on top of things.
- Stop feeding plants in the garden and planted containers, and especially plants that are starting to lose their leaves as these are going into hibernation for the winter, so it’s a waste of money and bad for the environment in terms of fertiliser run off.
Tip: When planting new trees and shrubs incorporate farmyard manure or well-rotted compost. Any organic matter added to soils helps retain vital moisture and gives a low release of nutrients.
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- Root crops like beetroot, carrots, parsnips and turnips will keep in the ground until they are required. Cover with a thick layer of straw to prevent frost damage or alternatively remove from soil and store in a frost-free garage/shed in damp peat or sand.
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- Many summer hanging baskets have now run out of steam and its time they got an autumn make over. When planting autumn baskets put more plants into them as they do not fill out like summer baskets. You can’t go wrong with pansies and violas for a splash of winter colour. We all know about using ivy in baskets for evergreen colour, but why not use vincas (Periwinkles) and especially the variegated varieties that look bright and are fully frost hardy.
- Now that the soil is moist and we still have good soil temperatures, it’s the perfect time for planting evergreen shrubs. You can plant evergreen from now until November, providing the soil is not frozen or water-logged. As a general rule always dig the planting hole twice the width of the rootball and the same depth of the rootball. By placing the rootball in a larger hole the roots do not have to penetrate hard soil, hence new the plant will establish at a faster rate.
- Perennial plants that have finished flowering can be divided now. Perennials in ponds are best divided in spring just before new growth starts. Always divide summer flowering perennials in autumn and spring flowering perennials in summer after flowering.
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