Plant Spring bulbs
Now is a great time to plant spring bulbs such as crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells and fritillaries. Each bulb you purchase (online, from your local garden centre, or even your local supermarket) will have different instructions as to how deep to plant. If you’d like recommendations for which bulbs will go well with your Dig bed if you are a customer already, just drop us an email at hello@digclub.co.uk
Trim evergreen hedges
Give evergreen hedges a final trim to make sure they are in shape for winter,. Cutting hedges slightly narrower at the top than the bottom will make them less likely to get damaged in winter, and will prevent the hedge from shading itself out at the base, which can lead to dead patches.
Give everything a good clean
Cleaning up patios and hard surfaces where you will be walking during the winter months is a really sensible idea. Removing moss and algae from these areas now will prevent them becoming slippery during the winter. It’s also a great idea to clear up any debris from patios, such as dead leaves which will begin to accumulate as we move into autumn – these can also become very slippery.
Don’t forget to tidy up your plants too
Smarten up perennials that have gone over (gardening speak for finished growing and beginning to die back) by removing dead areas. If you like how they look though, as some plants can look very pretty even when they’re finished for the year, do leave them. Gardening really is about what you like, as much as anything else! Give your beds a good weed too, if you’re uncertain what is a weed and what isn’t just drop us a photo on Instagram messages and we can help identify the right plants to pull up. Also consider applying a thick layer of mulch to your beds (such as compost or leaf mould), being careful not to cover up plants, but surround them to the base of the plant. This will smarten up your bed with rich, dark contrast, and help to further retain moisture.
Replenish your lawn
If you have a lawn, this is an ideal time of year to create new areas or replenish existing ones with seed. To improve your lawn if you already have one, you can apply autumn lawn feed (high in potassium, and low in nitrogen) and seed patchy areas. Grass grows spectacularly well at this time of year. Growing a new lawn from seed is less expensive than using turf, and seeds are also easier to store. Seeding a new lawn in autumn takes advantage of the warm soil, the moisture and the mild weather.
Pruning
If needed, this is a good time of year to prune (or cut back) late flowering shrubs, such as Helianthemum. Pruning climbing roses and rambling roses once they’ve finished flowering – which feature regularly in our Cottage theme – is a good job to do now too. If your roses are repeat-flowering varieties however, leave them until later in the year, towards late October.
