As for feeding, a high phosphate fertiliser applied late summer will strengthen the roots for winter rather than encourage lush top growth that could suffer in the cold months. But if your aim is to lay new turf or re-reed areas, now is the time to prepare the ground, and if you have been cultivating a meadow-style garden a cut now will help spread seeds. Elsewhere, maintain your-dead-heading programme to help take some colour through to autumn, and cut back the foliage and stems of herbaceous plants. Climbers, such as wisteria and pyracantha can be trimmed once they have finished flowering, as can hebes, lavenders and rambling roses, while hedges can be cut as they will only grow a little before the colder weather shuts them down. Any bare patches which have developed in alpines can also be filled with a gritty compost to encourage new growth. And if you want some early spring colour, bulbs should start to become available online and at local garden centres, and many can be planted now.
Your vegetable garden should also be coming into its own now, with the promise of plenty of home-grown produce. Spring-sown carrots and beetroot should be ready to harvest, as will second early potatoes - perfect for salads – while French and runner beans should be picked regularly to prevent them setting seed or becoming stringy. Apply a high potash fertiliser, such as tomato feed, once fruits start to form on peppers, cucumbers, and aubergines, as well as tomato plants, which should have had their tops pinched to promote growth with the lower leaves cut away to help air circulation and prevent disease. Herbs can also be trimmed and thinned to encourage a new flush of tasty leaves that can be harvested before the frosts, while cuttings can be taken from rosemary, sage and mint and planted in moist, well-drained potting compost. And as for soft fruits, plant out any rooted runners from your strawberry plants; prune blackcurrant stems after harvesting and cut back the fruited canes from summer raspberries, leaving the new green canes to flourish for next year.
But if your aim is to lay new turf or re-reed areas, now is the time to prepare the ground
LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
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