Autumn is here, temperatures are falling and the days are shortening. Here are quick summaries of the various gardening tips that we at Living Landscaping both recommend and provide as a service offering to our clients on a regular basis.
1. Trim Your Hedges– Now is the time to trim your hedges before winter settles in to ensure that their form remains compact and bushy. If this isn’t your cup of tea, call us for a professional finish.
2. Maintain Your Lawn – Check your lawn and make sure any weeds that you sprayed last month are now dying. Repeat the treatment if necessary. Aerate the lawn with a garden fork. Rejuvenate tired lawns with an autumn feeding to ready them for the onset of cool winter weather. Use a spreader to obtain uniform consistency.
Feed your lawn and raise the mowing height of your mower.
The recommended seasons to top dress lawns are autumn and spring as lawns grow vigorously during these periods and the grass will push through the extra layer. Top dressing of lawns in summer and winter is not recommended.
As part of our garden review, we can give more specific advice depending on the type of grass you have used.
3. Be Water-Wise
Now that the weather is cooler, gardens tend to not lose as much water as they would do in the summer time from evaporation. It is important to not over water your garden in winter as this can cause soils to water-log (particularly in shaded areas). If you water your garden on automatic reticulation, it is a good idea to reduce the watering time to half that of summer.
When you are watering during winter, make sure that you do it in the morning so that plants and soil have the chance to dry off during the day before the temperature drops again at night. This will help to reduce the chance of fungal disease, as fungus loves to grow in wet conditions! Another good way of reducing the risk of fungal growth on your plants is to water the soil rather than the foliage.
4. Fertilise – Use an organic fertilizer to feed the garden. Fertilising your plants during winter is still important as this will really help them to blossom! High Potassium fertilisers are perfect for winter as they aid the development of green leaves and strengthen the plants to get them through the winter months.
5. Divide and Conquer – Now that summer’s extreme heat has passed, the stress caused by dividing plants will be minimised though the soil is still warm enough to help plants settle down afterwards.
6. Use Colour – Now is the best time to plant some colourful annuals throughout your garden. Winter annuals generally begin flowering in June/July and continue to grow through to the start of spring. There are a variety of different coloured annuals to choose from, so head to your local nursery and see what they have available to brighten up your place or call us for recommendations to fit in with your objectives.
7. Tidy Up – Contrary to what many people might think, fallen debris and leaves can inhibit lawn growth because it blocks sunlight. It can also cause disease in plants. The best policy is to tidy up and remove anything that doesn’t belong.
We have found the above tips to be the most relevant in most cases. Nevertheless, each garden is different and each garden owners has different tastes. Some people enjoy gardening and like to do as much as they can themselves. Other clients may prefer to spend time with family or pursuing other interests, so they call us in for that professional touch.
We cater for all tastes and budgetary requirements and we can tailor packages to suit your needs.
Contact us (link) today to arrange a free garden review or call us on 9361 3000.
Leave a Reply