Whilst there’s still colour and enjoyment to be found in the autumn garden, you might find moss and algae starting to get a hold - putting paid to your garden enjoyment. There are benefits to tackling this now and giving your garden a general tidy ready for the colder weather. So what jobs do you need to prioritise at this time of year to ensure your garden thrives through winter?
Our Pre-winter garden game plan is made up of five easy-to-achieve projects:
- Selective cutting back
- Lawn preparation
- A hard surface clean-up
- Treating tools and equipment
- Removing weeds
Read on to learn more!
Selective Cutting Back
If the ground isn’t waterlogged, prune hardy perennials to a couple of inches above ground level to prepare them for winter and strong growth next spring.
Be careful with tender perennials though, as some - like penstemons - will need the older woody stems to protect the plant from frost.
Lift tender species and store in compost or sand, out of reach of frost.
Leave interesting looking autumn perennials like grasses and those with attractive seed heads, to retain some structure and provide food and habitats for over-wintering wildlife.
Once you’ve finished your cutting back, apply a layer of mulch like compost or bark to protect the soil.
See our guide to mulching here and our guide to pruning for more information about cutting back plants and shrubs in autumn.
When it comes to cutting back, don’t forget to give your shrubs and deciduous trees a light prune in autumn.
Remove dead and damaged branches of softwood and evergreens safely with telescopic shears.
Lawn Preparation
Autumn is a great time to pay attention to your lawn. Renovating it now will help prepare it for healthy growth in spring giving you a lush green lawn come summer.
One of the most important processes in autumn lawn preparation is scarifying to remove moss and thatch – allowing it to take on essential pre-winter nutrition.
Scarifying will also help to reduce moss - the enemy of garden lawn lovers. Thriving in wet shady areas, moss can quickly grab a hold once the weather gets a little cooler and damper.
Agrigem has been working with turf specialists for many years to bring a range of specialist products to gardeners to help deal with the problem of moss.
Fertilisers and treatments like Ferro-gem that are high in iron will help strengthen grass and blacken moss so that it can be easily removed.
Search ‘moss’ on our website for a range of articles, guides and products to help you with the challenge of moss removal.
If you have a specific problem or a question for our technical team, just get in touch.
If you have a lot of trees and need to rake or blow leaves off the lawn before scarifying, you can make leaf mould by shredding them into an empty compost bin and wait for them to crumble down and rot.
Use this leaf mould to add organic matter to your garden soil in spring.
Hard Surface Clean-up
One of the most common challenges faced by homeowners come autumn is the growth in algae and mould on hard surfaces.
Algae can cover patios, wooden decks, walls, fences and garden furniture very quickly in autumn.
Like moss, algae thrive in damp conditions and in shaded areas – dulling down surfaces and creating slippery surfaces that can cause a real problem through winter.
Removing it is an essential pre-winter task to help keep you safe in the colder, wetter months. Use a product designed specifically for this job, like Sapphire.
Sapphire will cover a much larger area than other brands and works on contact to effectively treat and prevent mould, algae and grime on hard surfaces.
It can be used safely on most hard surfaces including concrete, wood, stone, glass and plastic.
Treat Tools and Equipment
Before you put away your trowels, spades and forks, give them a good clean, sharpen blades and oil wooden handles to preserve them through the winter.
The same pre-winter treatment applies to power tools. Cleaning the underside of your mower and sharpening the blades will help keep it in good working order ready for spring.
The blades of hedge trimmers can also be cleaned and carefully sharpened.
Remember to carefully dry power tools, and ensure any petrol is drained and carefully stored or disposed of before putting tools away for winter.
Remove Weeds
Finally, remember to remove weeds in autumn to prevent them setting seed and becoming a bigger problem in spring.
Autumn lawns need to benefit from all the nutrition available, so removing nutrient hungry weeds from grass will benefit the turf through winter.
Remove lawn weeds using a selective weed killer to avoid damaging your grass. Read more about selective weedkillers in our guide here.
Get rid of obvious large weeds in beds and borders by hand, making sure you get the whole root out.
If this isn’t possible without trampling on other plants or snapping off above the root, use an appropriate weedkiller with a weed wiper stick. Find out more about targeting weedkilling in our article here.
Following these five simple pre-winter processes will help your garden thrive through winter and deliver healthy lawns and plants come spring!
