What do in the the garden in autumn

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Autumn’s a pleasant season in the garden. There’s still growth and activity in the plant world, but the worst of the heat is over for the year.

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Here are some of the most important seasonal jobs in the autumn garden:

Autumn vegetables and herbs

Sow seeds of broad beans, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips.

Sow parsley seeds. In cold areas, keep the parsley pot in a sheltered spot so it doesn’t get damaged by the winter.

Autumn lawn

Feed lawns with Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food. The fine granules are small enough to slip down through the grass to enrich the soil.

The soil in lawns can become compacted during the wet weather and this weakens the grass. Aerate lawns with a garden fork or by hiring a mechanical corer.

Patch holes with a fast-germinating grass blend such as Yates Quick Fix Lawn Seed Fertiliser.

Watch for grass-munching lawn grubs and black beetles.

Autumn flowers and shrubs

Autumn is the time to plant spring-flowering bulbs. If you want to have the best display, get your hands on some of the bulb catalogues that growers send out at this time of year and plan your purchases. But if you’re less committed, buy packaged bulbs from large retailers. In warmer areas, the golden rules are ‘buy early, plant late’ and put tulips, hyacinths and daffodils into the fridge for a few weeks of pre-plant chilling.

Remove excess buds from camellias. Leave one or, at the most, two, buds in each cluster.

Sow seeds of sweet peas, poppies, pansies, and columbines (Aquilegia).

Autumn pests and diseases

Control caterpillars with Yates Success Ultra Insect Control Concentrate.

Use  Yates Rose Gun Spray Ready to Use to treat pests and mildew on roses and other ornamentals.

Autumn garden jobs

Autumn’s a good season for transplanting evergreen shrubs and small trees. Wait until winter to move deciduous varieties.

In early autumn, there’s still time to take cuttings of shrubs and, thereby, produce some new plants for free. Speed up the formation of new roots by dipping cuttings into Yates Clonex Root Gel - Softwood and Semi-Hard Wood Purple before potting them. Clonex Gel’s formulation includes an added fungicide that helps stop cuttings from rotting.