As Spring taught us that our gardens can be a safe haven during a pandemic, I believe that this will be no different during Autumn. As we all know, Autumn is my favourite season. I am starting to think about getting the garden ready for Autumn and ensuring everything is tidied up and put away, ready for the colder months ahead. Here are some of my top tips for getting your family garden in tip top shape and adding a little luxury along the way.

Weed the flower beds

I always do one final big de-weed in the flower beds. Keeping the flower beds clean from weeds, especially where Spring bulbs have been planted. Keeping on top of leaves that have covered flower beds (and the lawn) is a good idea to do throughout Autumn too. We invested in a composter during lockdown and I put all the fallen leaves into the compost. I put the cut grass in the composter too. I sprinkle the flower beds with a layer of bark chipping too, you can grab a bag for a couple of pound in Lidl. It keeps the soil moist and in good condition.

Flower beds

Clean your garden furniture

Our lockdown gift, to ourselves, was our new garden furniture. As our Dubai trip was cancelled and we got a full refund, we used some of it to purchase the rattan corner sofa for our new patio. We have transformed our garden in the past 18 months, I will show you that in another post. Giving the garden furniture a good clean and ensure it is ready to be covered. If you have wooden furniture give it a coat of varnish to protect it through the Winter too. Cover the furniture up so that it maintains it’s good condition and lasts longer.

rattan furniture

Cut the grass

Did you know that grass grows extremely slowly when the temperatures fall? But, it does not stop growing. It is a good idea to give your grass a cut before Winter truly kicks in. Throughout Autumn ensure you keep the grass cut low as when the grass is wet it can be extremely hard to cut. As we all know, it rains more frequently in Autumn and Winter! You might want to install artificial grass since it needs little maintenance compared to real grass. Don’t forget to keep your hands warm during the colder weather, this Zippo heatbank is a great hand warmer and is perfect to keep in your pocket (or slip into your gloves) to keep your hands warm whilst you are out in the garden. You can grab one from Amazon and have it delivered the next day!

Zippo

Install bird feeding stations

Don’t forget about the birds throughout Autumn and Winter too. We have these beautiful bird feeders from Henry Bell. They are Magnolia flowers and I have one that hangs in the tree and one that sits in the flower bed. I fill them with bird seeds and fat balls. Henry Bell have a great range of bird feeders and wild bird food too. I love watching the birds in the garden. I have only managed to catch a pigeon eating from the Magnolia hanging feeder, you can just make him out in the photo below:

bird feeder

Move delicate plants inside

Some plants do not like the colder weather and so moving them into a greenhouse or a conservatory, utility room or a kitchen windowsill is a good idea. Check out this list of the top 10 plants to protect over Winter from BBC Gardeners’ World. I find it fascinating how people can grow plants and flowers in the UK that are usually grown in hot countries, like Greece. My uncle has done this with a few plants, it’s amazing.

Do you have any tips for getting your family garden ready for Autumn? Get the kids involved with helping you too, for some reason my kids love cutting the edges of the grass with scissors. I think it must be a nice mindful task for them. Do your kids enjoy gardening?

What do you think?

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6 Comments
  • Margaret Gallagher
    Sunday, November 22, 2020

    Need to start on mine – thanks for the nudge

  • Katie Milench
    Friday, November 27, 2020

    This looks so pretty

  • Susan B
    Saturday, November 28, 2020

    It is surprising what a difference a garden clean up and grass cut makes at the beginning of winter. I read somewhere that turning the soil over not only looks better but also helps the soil quality, texture and oxygenation so I try to do that, too.

  • Margaret Gallagher
    Thursday, May 27, 2021

    Gardening is such a great way to relax ! Off to weed

  • laura hayes
    Monday, May 31, 2021

    Great tips, beautiful garden

  • Natalie Crossan
    Thursday, March 10, 2022

    The bird feeding stations are great