Gardening Jobs – Autumn & Winter
You might feel that the work in the garden is over once the summer has passed. However, Autumn and Winter are still an important part of the gardening year & the focus is on tidying and preparing for winter whilst helping set the garden up for the spring and summer ahead.
Key tasks to be tackled can include the following:
- Plant drifts of Spring flowering bulbs in both beds and pots providing early colour from winter through to late spring. There are many options available including Snowdrops, Narcissus, Tulips & Alliums.
- Remove summer bedding & plant up cheery pots for winter colour – winter Pansies, Cyclamen, Erica, Hellebores & Skimmia’s for example.
- Plant evergreen shrubs & trees whilst the soil is still warm in early Autumn.
- Move any deciduous shrubs that are in the wrong place.
- Lift any tender perennials such as Canna Lily and Dahlia’s & store in cool dark conditions until Spring.
- Collect seeds from perennials such as Astrantia & Achillea and sow straight away.
- Rake up fallen leaves & ideally store in a Leaf Mould Bin to rot down into Leaf Mould which can be used on the garden later to improve soil structure and provide nutrients. Save money on buying soil improvers & composts.
- Mow the lawn for the final time, with higher blades because the grass is likely wet & also leave a little longer for winter. Tidy the edges with edging tools.
- Spike a compacted lawn to help with drainage.
- Feed the lawn in Autumn to help it withstand the ravages of winter.
- Autumn is also an excellent time for sowing a new lawn.
- Cut down relevant perennials depending on the variery, remove dead leaves & then weed the beds and borders. You then mulch with a variety of organic mulch options to help provide plants with some protection over winter, suppress weeds, retain moisture, & improve soil structure over time.
- Clear up any rose leaves with blackspot from around the base of the plant and then mulch.
- Prune climbing roses and & shrubs that are overgrown whilst they are still dormant.
- Prune fruit bushes.
- Remove old leaves from Hellebores ready for them to flower.
- Late Winter start dividing congested clumps of Herbaceous Perennials & plant out elsewhere filling in any gaps.
- Feed Flowering Shrubs & Roses in late Winter along with pruning floribunda roses before growth restarts.
- Clean out the greenhouse & compost tomato and cucumber plants whilst disinfecting the frame and windows. Also, clean tools using something like detox. Sow winter greenhouse salads.
For those with a Kitchen Garden or Veg Patch there is even more to do! From tidying Strawberry beds to planting Shallots, Onions & Garlic in raised beds and protecting them, to planting bare root fruit bushes in ground that is not frozen – to name but a few tasks..
Gardening Experts at DP Garden Design
Lots of people love their gardens or would love a garden but simply don’t have the time to make the most of them and then maintain them, which is not surprising given just a selection of the tasks highlighted above. At DP Garden Design we not only design bespoke gardens for our clients to enjoy their outdoor spaces to the full, we also help them then maintain these gardens going forward.
If you need help in maintaining your garden, please contact us and we can discuss your requirements and draw up an organized plan from the services we offer. Hours can be flexible and adjusted throughout the year to keep on top of the jobs across any season.
To find out more about how we can assist you with either designing your dream garden or in providing Gardening Services please visit our website at www.dpgardendesign.co.uk or contact directly on email via info@dpgardendesign.co.uk
To find out more about how we can assist you with designing and maintaining your dream garden or for the best garden design ideas, whether you’re in Alresford, Winchester, the counties of Hampshire (Winchester), Surrey, Berkshire or Sussex, then please explore our garden design services. We are located in Alresford near Winchester and extend our professional garden design services throughout Hampshire and surrounding counties.