I’ve been enjoying a late Indian summer this week. With temperatures in the high teens and some pleasantly sunny afternoons gardens are still looking good with late perennials giving splashes of colour and the occasional rose offering up scents of summer!
However, Autumn is just around the corner and as a gardener I’m preparing myself for one of the busiest periods of the year. London’s weather often delays or shortens seasons and Autumn is a season that sometimes lingers from October to December or can be over in just a month. Keep an eye out for the first colour changes in the trees which come after colder nights as this is nature’s way of warning us to get prepared!
The most immediate task should be to cut back perennials that have died down and divide up the herbaceous perennials that have become too thick. Prune the climbing roses back and give the lawn and hedges a last trim. It is in fact a very good time to turf, with wetter weather but warm soils that will help turf establish quickly or you can renovate old lawns with a range of treatments.
Keep leaf fall tidied up as much as possible (leaf cover wrecks lawns!) and plant spring flowering bulbs for next year. Winter annuals can be planted to replace the summer displays. A little attention now will pay dividends for the look of the garden this winter and into Spring.
In the meantime, I’m savouring the warm days and enjoying summers’ last hurrah!
