When the leaves begin to fall from the trees and the green stems grow brown, you know that autumn has arrived in your garden. Now is a good time to have a tidy up before winter strikes.
Follow the tips below to keep your garden looking neat and in good condition.
- Sweep It
Start with your path, patio and lawn. Rake the leaves and debris to help maintain healthy lawns and prevent pathways from becoming too slick with wet leaves. It may be a job that needs to be done more than once through the autumn.
- Make Leaf Mould
All the leaves you rake will make great compost. Should you find that there’s little space for a compost mound, simply fill some bin bags, pierce a few holes in them and let them sit for a couple of seasons. You’ll soon have bags of gorgeous mulch to use.
- Pull Up Annuals
Things such as sunflowers and other summer bedding plants will begin to look very sad for themselves at this time of year, not being sturdy enough for cold weather. They won’t improve or begin to look any better so it’s time to pull them up and add them to your compost.
- Tidy Hedges, Shrubs and Trees
Anything that’s overgrown and in the way, should be cut back. This includes flowering shrubs from early summer onwards, hedges that have become a bit unruly and any trees that might be blocking walkways, encroaching too close to the buildings or that might be looking unhealthy or even diseased. For a Tree Surgeon Bournemouth, visit a site like kieranboylandtreeservices.com
- Cut Down Perennials
Opinions differ when it comes to dealing with perennials this time of year. Some think they are perhaps an interesting focal point and offer food and shelter for wildlife. However, others feel that they simply look terrible, being brown and lifeless, and for some, encouraging wildlife might not be something they want to achieve in their garden. But right now, or in the early spring, perennials with dead heads, such as geranium and echinacea need to be cut down to the ground.
- Consider wildlife
Many people curse ivy as an invasive plant but it remains one of the best for garden wildlife, particularly in autumn and winter. Many flowering plants will begin to die during the winter, while the ivy flowers are just beginning to develop. Therefore, ivy is an important source of food for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
The deep greens of ivy are perfect to protect the birds and insects while other trees are shedding their leaves and protective coverage. Ivy also produces fruit in the winter, a wonderful source of food for birds, which use their energy to control their own body temperature. Maintaining ivy in your garden is one of the most important things you can do for helping nature survive this autumn and winter.
Leave a Reply