Job of the week: Rake up leaves
Rake up leaves and compost them. Ideally mix with other green material in your compost bin or make a simple frame about 1m x 1m from chicken wire and posts and place all your leaves in there, They’ll rot down into lovely crumbly compost in about a year.
• Flowers:
Divide perennials such as bergenia and hardy geraniums
Reduce the height of tall shrubs like buddleja and lavatera to avoid wind rock
Plant daffodils in long grass to naturalise in drifts
• Fruit & veg:
Cut down asparagus stems as they turn yellow
Plant garlic and finish planting autumn-sown onion sets
Prune out fruited canes of raspberries, loganberries and tayberries
• Greenhouse:
Repot amaryllis (hippeastrum) and water to start into growth
Insulate the greenhouse with UV stabilised bubble wrap
Clear away the remains of summer crops
• Around the garden:
Move evergreen shrubs if necessary while soil is still warm
Lay turf on well-prepared soil enriched with organic matter
Grass growth has slowed but mow the lawn if it needs it whenever the ground is dry enough.
