Gardening Jobs For the Autumn

Get ahead of the game by starting your autumn chores now!

· Plant spring bulbs and early summer bulbs such as Alliums - these will look great next year at a fraction of ready grown prices. The rule of thumb when planting bulbs is to plant them three times the depth of the bulb's height. Plant in drifts or in groups of 3 or 5 for a more natural feel.

· Keep dead-heading roses for continued flowers but start pruning some of the other shrubs that need controlling now. Different shrubs need different pruning but make sure you don't prune out branches that will produce the next flowering. Go to a good website like shoot gardening for more information on pruning techniques.

· In the fruit garden pick late fruiting varieties and start pruning back other varieties. Cane fruit like raspberries should be pruned every year, taking out a third of the stems - the oldest ones - every year. 

· Cover ponds with netting to catch the leaf fall.

· Start autumn lawncare such as aeration and top dressing to improve the health of your grass. Remember this is also a great time for laying a new lawn.

· Get quotes for winter treework now - you can get details of recommended tree surgeons from the Arboricultural Association at trees.org.uk

· Shrubs - In mid to late autumn you can begin to transplant shrubs. Wait for leaves to drop on deciduous plants first. Prune evergreen hedges and cut out diseased, dead and damaged wood in shrubs.