Autumn is the time to repairing any damage your plants or lawn sustained in the hot Australian summer & for preparing your garden for the winter. Today’s blog post is all about autumn gardening! Throughout the post, we will link any products mentioned (look for the red text; this is a link) 😊
Autumn Lawn Care
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Autumn should be all about repairing & thickening up your lawn. New grass seedling find the mild conditions perfect.
After a long hot summer, your soil is quite impacted by the heat of the sun. Aerating your lawn will help improve the soil structure to allow for better root growth, water penetration & oxygen. Use a cultivator or garden fork to create fractures in the soil.
Before we head into cooler weather, it is extremely important to ensure your lawn receives enough sunlight. This is why autumn is the best time to prune trees, bushes and any foliage that could shade parts of your lawn. It is also important to regularly rake up any fallen leaves on your lawn that may prevent sunlight from reaching your grass.Â
Your lawn will appreciate if you fertilize it during autumn. Especially after the hot summer days, fertilizer will help it recover quicker from summer stress. By fertilizing your lawn in Autumn, you prepare it for winter with essential nutrients, encourage growth as well as extending your lawns colour.
Maintaining any weeds that have grown in your lawn through summer is extremely important as weeds do not slow down their growth in winter like your grass will. To gain control over the weeds, apply a quick & easy solution like Yates Weed n Feed. It controls the most common weeds as well as providing the lawn with a quick burst of greening nutrients.
When the weather cools down, you will mow your lawn less frequently. In order to give your lawn the best chance to absorb sunlight & nutrients, raise the height of your lawnmower. A longer blade of grass will help your lawn create a thicker canopy that is better equipped to block out weeds & retain the colour. You’ll be the envy of your neighbors with a beautiful green lawn all throughout winter!
Autumn Garden Care
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
To give your flower beds and veggie patches the best chance for growth after a hot summer, enrich your soil with an organic soil improver, such as Yates Dynamic Lifter. Yates Dynamic Lifter will improve overall garden bed health by increasing water and nutrient retention while encouraging earthworms and micro-organisms.
Start planning for a stunning display of bulbs in spring with mass plantings of daffodils, dutch iris, hyacinth, lachenalia, ixia, muscari, ranunculi, Freesia, crocus, anemone, Babiana and tulips. Choose a spot with light, well-drained soil or plant in pots that can be moved out of sight after flowering. In warm areas, chill hyacinth and tulip bulbs in the fridge (about 8 weeks) before planting. Soil preparation is an important part of autumn gardening, particularly when it comes to planting new plants that will be at their best in spring. For example, for bulbs that flower in spring, they’re planted in autumn and the best way to encourage healthy bulbs in spring is to prepare the soil when you’re planting in autumn. A few handfuls of fertiliser mixed into the planting area is an easy way to help prepare and enrich the soil.
Its not too late to give your citrus trees a little late summer attention! Feed them with a plant food that is specially formulated for citrus. These formulas contain the full range of trace elements the plants need. Water well before & after application, spreading the fertiliser around the zone beneath the outer branches. At the same time, check for pests.
To prevent fallen leaves from smothering your plants & grass, rake and transfer them to a compost bin regularly. A well-rotted leaf mould is nutrient rich & extremely beneficial for your soil. Read our blog post on how to easily create your own compost heap or bin here.
The most important part of autumn gardening is to prepare & protect your plants for winter frosts. Move pot plants to a protected spot, drape frost blanket over sensitive plants & spray foliage with Yates Drought Shield before frosts are predicted. Yates Drought Shield forms a protective, flexible film over leaves to help reduce frost damage.
Thankyou to Yates for the information in this post
