Autumn gardens across Acton
At this time of year your garden is probably beginning to look a little tired. So is there anything you can do to give it a lift – whether that’s in preparation for putting your house on the market, or simply because you want your garden to look good even after summer has ended?
Typically, as we move deeper into autumn, the garden gets more and more covered in dead leaves and plants become scruffy as they die back for winter. It may all look a bit daunting, but one of the key factors in sprucing things up is to just tidy up. Start with the lawn. They tend to suffer at this time of the year if they are not regularly cleared – leaves block the light and kill off the grass. One of the best ways of clearing them is by mowing. Surprisingly, if the weather remains mild, the grass will keep on growing for quite some time to come. You should adjust you mower to cut slightly higher than normal – afterwards, the grass should be about 2 inches high. With the lawn trimmed and cleared everything then starts to look so much better.
The next thing on the list is neatening up your plants and shrubs. However, you need to take care what you prune. If you are in any doubt, you can always look up the correct timings for individual plants on the internet. Avoid cutting back evergreen shrubs and hedges at this time of year, as it may encourage new growth that will be killed off by the frost. This is the perfect time, though, to reshape any plants and shrubs that have lost their leaves. You can trim shrub roses by about a third, which not only tidies them up, it also helps them avoid winter wind damage (wind rock). It’s also the time to prune any wisteria or vines which have become unsightly. Many of these types of climbers are to be found on the front of properties, so a good trim will have the added benefit of improving a home’s kerb appeal.
It’s not just about tidying things up, there are a number of plants that you can add that will look great all winter. Evergreens are an obvious choice, but there are also dogwoods (https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=130). Although they lose their leaves, they often have stunningly coloured, decorative branches, from pale greens to reds and dark purples. They look great planted in clumps and can be mixed together for a really vibrant look. There are also a number of perennials worth considering, some of which produce striking seed heads and leaves as they slowly die off. A couple of good examples are Miscanthus (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/116018/i-Miscanthus-sinensis-i-Adagio/Details) or Sanguisoba (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/16403/i-Sanguisorba-officinalis-i/Details) and, as an added bonus, they will look truly beautiful when covered in frost. Another plant family worth considering is grasses. There are plenty that are winter friendly, such as Acorus gramineus (Sweet Flag) (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/117878/i-Acorus-gramineus-i-Hakuro-nishiki-(v)/Details) or iopogon planiscapus (Black Mondo Grass) (https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/grasses/ophiopogon-planiscapus-nigrescens/itemno.RH30000746/#:~:text=black%20lilyturf%20%2D%20Ophiopogon%20planiscapus%20Nigrescens,-%C2%A39.99&text=This%20small%2C%20easy%20to%20grow,by%20spherical%2C%20dark%20blue%20fruit.). They look great in pots and can be taken with you if you are moving home. You can even get some plants that will flower all the way through to spring, including winter flowering pansies or cyclamens and heathers (https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/blogs/blogs/october-2014/easy-like-sunday-morning). They’ll add a splash of colour and, like grasses, can be planted in pots as well as beds. The Christmas classic is, of course, a berry covered holly tree. However, if you want to be a bit more adventurous, you could try a sweet box (https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/50660/i-Sarcococca-orientalis-i/Details), which not only flowers during winter but also smells fantastic.
Something else to bear in mind – as the days grow progressively shorter, your garden will soon be seen more often in darkness than in light. If you install some good quality low voltage lighting, it can prolong your enjoyment. Try uplighting a tree or two – it will turn them into fantastic sculptural features. You’ll need to put in armoured cable from the house and you will almost certainly be required, by law, to hire an electrician to do the work, but it will be well worth it.
One final piece of advice – one of the best ways of ensuring your garden looks good whatever the weather (even if it snows), is to put some structure in it. That’s anything from a well-shaped hedge to an architectural feature, pool or gazebo. Formal raised flowerbeds at varying heights also work well and will contrast nicely with the surrounding organic plant forms.
Right, that should be plenty to keep you inspired – happy gardening.
