Autumn may not be the most exciting time for the garden, after the bounty of late summer – but it’s an optimistic season of looking forward to new growth to come. Below, we partner with King’s Plant Barn to share some tips for autumn gardening.
Gardening in April
• Get rid of any summer flowering annuals that have done• Harvest any pumpkins, potatoes, onions and marrows coming through and store them somewhere cool and dry for the coming winter.• Plant sweetpeas somewhere sunny so they’re looking sweet come spring. It’s also the right time to sow seeds for English daisies, cornflowers, cineraria, lobelia and lupins. And you can plant daffodils directly into the garden now for a sunny touch come spring.• Trim your summer perennials such as hydrangeas and hebe back once they’re no longer flowering. You can now dig them up, divide and replant them – or just wait for them to bud again in spring!• If you’ve got roses, deadhead your established plants and start planning for the new season. Roses will begin arriving in late May, so ready any new planting sites for them with a good compost.• Pop hedges in while it’s still warm. Consider eugenia, griselinias or pittosporum for large spaces, or corokia or buxus for smaller spots.• Plump up your winter herb garden with parsley, mint, chives and rosemary.• Once you’ve harvested all your fruit trees, give them a bit of love with a copper spray to protect against ailments such as leaf blight and downy mildew.• Transplant your winter seedlings or sow seeds directly into your garden bed – we love broad beans, broccoli, spinach and carrots for this time of year. • If all you’ve got is a lawn, autumn’s an exciting time! April is the best month for sowing a new lawn or repairing an existing one, so dig in.
