Summer to Autumn Planning

Evaluate and Harvest

• Take stock of your summer plants: Walk through your garden and assess which plants are still thriving and which are winding down. Note what worked well this year and what didn’t. This is a great time to start a gardening journal to help with future planning.
• Harvest the last of the summer bounty: Continue to harvest fruits and vegetables that are still ripening, such as tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Removing ripe produce encourages the plant to focus its energy on the remaining fruit.
• Remove spent annuals: Once summer annuals like marigolds or petunias have stopped producing flowers, pull them up. This helps prevent diseases and pests from overwintering and frees up space for new plantings.

Prepare the Soil

• Clean and clear garden beds: Rake up any dead leaves, weeds, and other debris from the soil’s surface. This not only makes your garden look tidier but also reduces places for pests to hide.
• Enrich the soil: After a full summer of growing, your soil’s nutrients may be depleted. Amend the soil by adding a 1- to 3-inch layer of organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure. You can either gently mix it into the top few inches of soil or simply spread it on top to let it work its way down.
• Check and improve soil structure: If your soil is compacted, use a garden fork or a trowel to gently loosen it. This improves drainage and aeration, which is crucial for root crops you might plant for the fall.

Plant for Autumn and Next Spring

• Sow cool-season crops: Autumn is an excellent time to plant vegetables that thrive in cooler temperatures. Consider planting root vegetables like carrots, radishes, and beets, as well as leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and lettuce. Some hardy herbs like parsley and cilantro also do well.
• Plant spring-blooming bulbs: For a spectacular display next Spring, plant bulbs like tulips, daffodils, and crocuses in the Autumn. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs at a depth of about three times the bulb’s height.
• Add Autumn colour: Replace tired Summer annuals with Autumn-friendly flowers that can handle cooler weather. Mums, pansies, and flowering kale can provide a splash of colour well into the season.
• Divide perennials: Autumn is a great time to divide and transplant mature perennials that have become too large or are overcrowding a space. This revitalises the plants and gives you new ones to plant elsewhere or share.

General Maintenance and Protection

• Prune and deadhead: Prune back any perennial herbs and flowers you want to keep. Continue to deadhead remaining flowers to encourage new blooms. For woody shrubs and hedges, late summer or early fall is a good time for a final trim.
• Mulch garden beds: A fresh layer of mulch (shredded leaves, straw, or wood chips) helps to regulate soil temperature, retain moisture, and suppress weeds. It will also provide insulation for plant roots as temperatures drop.
• Protect tender plants: If you have tender or half-hardy plants, start preparing to bring them indoors before the first frost. This might include re-potting them or moving their containers to a sheltered spot like a garage or greenhouse.
• Water wisely: While the weather is cooler, it’s still important to water your plants. Water deeply but less frequently, especially for newly planted trees and shrubs, to help them establish their roots before Winter.

Anemone

Anemones produce wonderful blooms in early autumn, and can flower well into October.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen are a well loved winter bedding plant; they create a pop of colour in autumn beds and borders.

Pansy & Viola

Another well loved winter bedding plant, pansies and violas are a cheerful addition to any autumn garden.

Aster

Part of the daisy family, asters are a gorgeous and colourful flower that bloom well into autumn.

Crab Apple

Crab apple trees are a wonderful, mid-sized tree that produce vibrant autumnal colours, bringing life into an autumn garden.

Cotoneaster

Autumn is the best time to plant cotoneaster, with many varieties producing wonderful autumnal colour.

Acer

Well-loved and popular, acers are particularly fantastic in autumn when they come out in vibrant colours.

Ornamental grasses

Add texture and colour to your garden throughout autumn with ornamental grasses; they come in a huge variety of shapes and colours.

Dahlias

Dahlias are a beautiful flower for this season, as they end to bloom well into autumn before the first frosts!

Sedum

Sedums are a wonderful autumn plant as they flower from August onwards, providing lots of colour for your garden.