Autumn can be a tricky season in the garden. Autumn is the mellow season, all the hectic flowering and reproductive activity of the summer is over. Seed-heads and berries look their best; and the changing colour of leaves signals the beginning of the end of the growing season. For the gardener, this is the time to start putting the garden to bed.

Start of Autumn

• Bring in tender plants under cover before the first frosts
  
• Plant or move evergreens and conifers, while the soil is still warm
  
• Plant spring bedding, such as wallflowers and polyanthus
  Plant spring bulbs
  
  
  

Middle of Autumn

• Tidy perennials, removing dead stems but leaving seed-heads for birds to eat
  
• Plant deciduous trees, shrubs and climbers
  
• Lay new lawns, so long as soil is not too wet
  
• Batten down the hatches, ensuring nothing can blow about and cause damage on
• windy nights
  
  

End of Autumn

• Plant shrubs, roses and hedging plants sold with bare roots
  
• Clear up fallen leaves and compost them
  
• Plant tulips and hyacinths
  
• Move deciduous trees and shrubs once they have lost their leaves
  
• Take hardwood cuttings from shrubs and roses