Is your garden ready for winter?

Martin Gough Garden Services have 5 top tips for your garden this autumn.

1. Lawn Maintenance

If your lawn is looking slightly worse for wear, then autumn is the perfect time to get to work on it. Remove old grass clippings and moss using a spring rake (add it to the compost heap). If there are large amounts of moss then you may want to use a moss killer first. In heavy traffic areas where the soil can become compacted, improve the drainage and aeration by making deep holes with the prongs of a garden fork every 10cm across the entire area. Brush in some sand afterwards and an application of autumn lawn feed to prepare your lawn for the cold winter months. Autumn can be a great time to lay a new lawn, allowing lots of time to establish before next summer.

2. Tidy Your Borders

Dig up annuals and add them to the compost heap. You can replant your beds with winter bedding ready next spring. Autumn is a great time to divide overcrowded perennials and move badly positioned plants, while the soil still offers some warmth. Once your borders are clean and tidy, spread a thick layer of compost, bark chips or well-rotted manure across them, don’t worry about digging it in – the worms can do that!

3. Plant Evergreens

Evergreens provide structure, forming the backbone to your garden as well as adding year-round interest. With warm soil and cooler conditions, autumn is the perfect time to fill gaps in your borders. The more evergreens in your garden, the better it will look in winter!

4. Lift Tender Species

Make sure that you lift tender species of plants before the first frost appears. Cut back stems and gently lift from the ground. Clean the soil from them and store them in trays of sand or dry compost (with just the top of crown visible). Keep the trays in a cool, frost-free place until spring when they can be replanted. It may be possible to protect tender species without lifting them in milder areas, simply cover the crowns with a thick layer of mulch.

5. Spring Clean your Greenhouse this Autumn

If you’re making the effort outside then it makes sense to tidy your greenhouse also. Remove the plants before sweeping out any plant debris, this will remove any pests looking for a winter hiding place. Using a solution of hot water and a garden disinfectant, clean your bedding tables, racking and path areas, also the inside of the glass. You will need to ventilate your greenhouse well for a few days. Wash out pots and seed trays in preparation for the spring.

Let M Gough Garden Services take on the maintenance of your garden. We can help with regular maintenance as well as one-off gardening jobs.

If you’re running out of time to get your garden ready for winter, give us a call on 07974 248409, we’ll be happy to help.

We offer a full range of Garden Services, visit our website for more details.