The Edinburgh Realty eNewsletter

Six top tips for your autumn gardening

The days are getting shorter and cooler but underfoot, the ground is still warm and ripe for planting. Getting a few things underway this month will set you up for rewarding, colourful and bountiful beds for the rest of the year, with our six top tips for autumn gardening.

1. Break it down. Sweep autumn leaves into lovely free piles of goodness for your garden. Use them as mulch, or add them to your compost with a balance of veggie scraps and garden waste.
    
2. Build it up. Autumn’s a great time to build a new garden bed. Choose a spot that matches the sunshine needs of the plants you’re keen to grow and prepare the soil well with a good fertiliser and plenty of water.
    
3. Plant now for winter grazing. Get your leafy greens under way with kale, rocket, silverbeet, spinach or lettuce, and Otago favourites - beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprout, cabbage, cauliflower, leek, radish, garlic and onion.
    
4. Hit the ground growing. Planting new trees and shrubs in autumn helps them to establish a stronger root system, for a healthy head-start on spring growth.
    
5. Start bedding down. Tidy up, cut back and clear out flowering annuals that have done their dash. Keep moisture even and weeds at bay with a fresh layer of mulch all around.
    
6. Beautify and brighten. For pops of winter colour, plant pansies, polyanthus and calendula, and pop in a selection of perennial bulbs for a warm spring welcome, year after year.