What to Do with Your Garden in Autumn

What to Do with Your Garden in Autumn

Autumn is when the garden is winding down — but it's also when you set it up for next year. A few hours of work now saves you weeks of catching up in spring. Here's our autumn checklist.

1. Clear the Leaves

Fallen leaves left on the lawn will smother the grass and create dead patches by spring. Rake them up regularly — and don't throw them away. Put them in a corner or a leaf mould cage, and in two years you'll have free, crumbly compost for your borders.

2. Give the Lawn Some Attention

Autumn is the best time to look after your lawn:

• Scarify to remove thatch and moss
• Aerate to relieve compaction (especially important on clay soils)
• Apply an autumn feed — low in nitrogen, high in potassium
• Overseed any bare or thin patches while the soil is still warm

Do this in September or October and your lawn will be thicker, greener, and moss-free next spring.

3. Plant for Spring

Autumn is the ideal time to plant — the soil is still warm, the rain is starting, and plants can establish roots before the growth season. Plant:

• Spring bulbs — daffodils, tulips, crocuses (September–November)
• New shrubs and perennials — they'll settle in over winter
• Hedges — bare-root hedging plants are available and affordable in autumn

4. Prune and Tidy

• Cut back perennials that have finished flowering — leave the seed heads on any that look good in winter frost
• Prune roses by half to prevent wind rock (proper pruning comes in late winter)
• Trim hedges for the last time — beech and yew in particular benefit from a late cut

5. Protect Tender Plants

Move tender plants in pots into a greenhouse or sheltered spot. Wrap tender plants in the ground with horticultural fleece or a thick mulch of bark. In South Manchester, we get hard frosts — don't assume anything tender will survive without protection.

6. Mulch Your Borders

A 5cm layer of mulch (bark, compost, or leaf mould) on your borders in autumn suppresses weeds, retains moisture, and protects plant roots from frost. It's the single most effective thing you can do to improve your soil.

Don't Wait for Spring

The biggest mistake people make is leaving everything until spring. By then, the weeds have had all winter to establish, the lawn is compacted, and the planting window for spring bulbs has closed. Do the work now and you'll start the next growing season ahead of the game.

Book an autumn tidy-up and we'll take care of it for you.

MSJ Landscaping — garden maintenance across South Manchester and Cheshire.