EARLY AUTUMN (SEPTEMBER)

Clean the greenhouse; wash the glass, remove shading and check the heater. Remove old tomatoes and other fruits after harvesting.

 

Bring in frost-tender plants, such as fuchsias and pelargoniums; cut them back, pot them up and keep them frost free and in good light.

Remove summer when it has finished flowering and replace with with winter pansies and ornamental cabbages.

Plant spring bulbs and spring bedding, e.g. wallflowers, polyanthus and primulas.

Prepare soil for new lawns; sow grass seed.

Harvest pumpkins.

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MID-AUTUMN (OCTOBER)

Plant deciduous trees, shrubs or climbers.

Lift tender summer bulbs, such as gladiolus, and dahlia tubers (allow frosts to blacken dahlia foliage before lifting); store in a frost-free shed.

Dig up potatoes and store in paper sacks in a frost-free shed.

Pick apples before the autumn gales. Store in a shed or the bottom of the fridge.

Lag the crowns of tree ferns with straw tied loosely with string.

Tidy perennials; cut back dead stems, but leave ornamental seed heads, for winter interest and to feed birds.

Lay new turf any time between now and April.

Rake lawn to remove 'thatch' and apply autumn lawn fertilizer.

Start compost heap.

Clear fallen leaves from lawn and rock garden.

Put net over fish pond.

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LATE AUTUMN (NOVEMBER)

Plant tulips and hyacinths.

Clear fallen leaves from lawns, paths, flowerbeds and rock gardens.

Plant hedging or roses sold with bare roots.

After leaf fall, move any deciduous trees and shrubs that need it, provided they are not too big.