Sage advice for gardeners is that if you want to reap the benefits of a beautiful garden in the Spring and Summer, the hard yards have to go in over the Autumn and Winter where the preparation you do is so important. With that in mind, here are our 6 top tips on how to prepare your garden over the Autumn and Winter:
- Getting rid of weeds – Autumn is a brilliant time to get rid of weeds as plants are particularly vulnerable when the weather is changing. Therefore, as things become rapidly cooler in the weeks ahead weeds will be at their most vulnerable and most susceptible to weedkillers. If you leave weeds to bed in there’s always the danger for gardeners they’re stuck there over the Winter months then. Using a butane gas Weed Wand, supplied by a company like Two Wests & Elliott, is most recommended as it instantly burns weeds and destroys the internal cell structure, so they die and disappear for good.
- Pruning perennials – This is a really simple and easy task that can make a big difference to the appearance of your garden. Autumn is the perfect time to trim perennials as flowering has just finished but it makes a big difference for the appearance of the plants the following Spring. The practice is suitable for all herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses and will restore some much-needed order and tidiness to your garden. A good pair of garden secateurs are perfect for the job.
- Get the soil ready – Preparing your soil is a great task for Autumn and will be really important as Springtime rolls around. Our top tips are to clear your borders and return your flower beds back to bare soil. You’ll need a good compost bin for all your dead organic matter, but don’t put weeds in the compost as they’ll germinate and cause you more problems down the line.
- Divide and plant bulbs – Autumn is the ideal time to divide bulbs as the foliage is dying naturally meaning you won’t miss out on any of the beautiful flowers they provide. Carefully dig your bulbs up with a trowel or shovel and divide them so each has enough space to grow healthy and strong. If done correctly you can forget about the bulbs then after the Winter but you’ll have a beautiful blooming bed of flowers naturally when the Spring rolls around!
- Clean up the compost pile – Cold composting over the Winter is one of the best things you can do to have a beautiful rich mix for your soil the following Spring and Summer. Therefore, cleaning up your compost pile is a really important job to ensure the highest quality compost. You want to focus on high-carbon brown leaves and nitrogen-rich green plants, food and veg scraps and occasionally aerate your pile every few weeks or so. Make sure to remove weeds from your pile and other waste that will harm the quality of the compost your producing.
- Yard pests – Pests are a problem for your yard all year round but there are different pests over the Autumn and Winter to those in Spring & Summer. Moles, snails, aphids, rodents and ants are the most important pests to look out for. The key way to ensure these pests don’t ruin your yard is to make sure it’s free of earthworms and other grubs as this is what most of these animals feed on.
