Expert advice Get your garden autumn-ready

Jobs for this time of year include emptying summer pots, mulching and planting bulbs, says HANNAH STEPHENSON

- 

As we look towards autumn, when summer plants are fading, rich burnt orange and warm yellow hues dominate the border and we are awash with harvested vegetables, there are plenty of jobs to do to make a head start on the cooler months.

"If people have spent the summer drinking Pimm's on the lawn and not doing a lot, now's the time to do some work. Think of it as a bit of a reset time," suggests Kate Turner, gardening expert for Miracle-Gro.

"The soil is still warm, so it's one of the best times of the year to start planting, but also you tend to get more rain in autumn, and moister air."

Here, Kate offers tips on how to get your garden autumn-ready.

REVAMP YOUR BORDERS

"If you leave it too late, the soil cools down and then plants sulk. So if you are thinking of having a rejig in beds and borders, redesigning, bringing in new plants, autumn is one of the best times," Kate says.

"You can also divide the plants you've already got. With border perennials, just be quite brutal. Dig them up, get two forks back to back, split them and you've two for the price of one.

"Nearly all border perennials can be divided in autumn, except those which are a little more tender, like lavenders and salvias, which you can leave until spring. Heleniums, penstemons and traditional cranes-bill geraniums are good for dividing."

Leave perennials which still may be flowering such as rudbeckias until a little later in the season.

MULCH YOUR BEDS

"This summer has been so dry and the soil has really struggled, so one of the best things you can do is mulch your borders, putting on an organic layer which can be well-rotted manure or a border booster, or woodchip."