Jobs / Tips

    Tidy the garden. This helps to reduce the amount of hiding places and food that slugs and snails in particular will have to tide them over the winter, which is good news for you next year.

    If your plants have been affected by disease or pest, pay particular attention to tidy-up hygiene so as not to give them (the diseases and pests) a head start next year. Diseased leaves should be burnt or taken out of the garden and disposed of, likewise fruit that is damaged by apple scab, plum sawfly or anything similar.

    Just time to prune any plum trees you have as soon as possible. The problem with plums (and all the Prunus) is that you're supposed to prune them in the summer, any other time means they're at risk from developing "silver leaf" a fungal infection that can easily kill the whole tree.

    Scour the retail outlets for summer plant bargains. The end of the year is the best time for new plantings, the soil is still warm and there's time for plants to get established before the winter.

    Sow hardy annuals for early flowering next spring. Calendulas, Larkspur, Nigella (love in a mist) Shirley poppies and my favourite blue cornflowers all do well if sown in rows in a sheltered position.

    Plant spring flowering bulbs for next year. Spring flowering bulbs and shrubs Plant hyacinths in tall containers for the best results indoors (not shallow bowls, the more the roots reach down, the more the flowers reach up so it seems). Lily flowered tulips are extravagant, but fantastic and only very rarely found as potted bulbs.

    Detach strawberry runners and plant them out in well dug over and manured soil.

    A good time to make a new lawn using seed or turf. The cooler but still reasonable temperatures and more reliable rainfall at this time of year mean that it is one of the best times to do this.

    If you have any half hardy plants such as fuchsias or Pelargoniums watch out for cold weather and frosts that may kill them off.

    In the 19th Century, Devon girls would go "crabbing for husbands". Crab apples, gathered on 29th September (Michaelmas Day) would be arranged in the shape of the prospective lover’s initials. Those best preserved on Old Michaelmas Day (10th October),  were thought to indicate the best prospects.

    A good time to take cuttings of shrubs, preferably with some protection.