Autumn 2020
Clip, feed and tidy
The last leaves of autumn are falling, so before our plants bed down to a sleepy winter state, give them a shape-up and some decent hibernation sustenance. Then give your garden and a tart-up before retiring inside for a hot drink in front of the fire.
Mix of English and Japanese box, clipped into spheres. Photo: Clontarf client
1. Pruning Time
Many of you would have summer-to-autumn flowering shrubs and perennials in your garden. Well, they've probably come to the end of their floral display and so it's time to prune them back to a tidy, stately shape. This is particularly true of fast-growing shrubs such as Westringia, Echium, Salvia and Hibiscus. If you don't, they will no doubt become straggly in shape and woody near the base. Go in hard, is my advice! With the plants mentioned, I usually prune back to a third or half of the late autumn size, if they are well established specimens. If we get some late warm weather, you might get a late flush of blooms afterwards!
Now is a good time to prune your taller screening hedges. Don't be shy. They will become woody at the base if not hedged regularly.
Ornamental grasses should be cut right back to the base, but if you are still enjoying the rusty or golden stems, leave them a little longer.
Other slower growing plants might need just shaping. Take a look at your citrus trees and see if any branches upset a symmetrical shape, then carefully prune them back. Even succulents such as jade plant, Euphorbia and Cotyledons benefit from cutting back to a balanced sphere.
2. Feed your plants
Especially if it's a newly planted garden, like my Prahran project in the image above, give your growing babies a dose of fertiliser before they bed down for the winter.
Use plant-specific products for citrus, roses, Australian natives (some don't like phosphorous), indoor plants etc. and general fertiliser such as blood-and-bone or dynamic lifter for ornamental beds. Gently pull back your mulch, apply around the plant but not directly onto the base of the trunk/stem, then respread the mulch. Lawn fertiliser will protect your grass during winter. Apply before the real cold sets in.
A liquid tonic such as Seasol is great for all plants, especially after heavy rains. Just wait until most water has drained away.
'tis the season to tidy - rake the leaves after the last fall and weed the garden once the shrubs are pruned
3. Tidy
Spring is usually the time we think of for cleaning. But late autumn is a good time to tidy up outdoors. Since we don't tend to spend a lot of time in our garden in the winter, yet still look out onto it, make it presentable.
Time to rake the leaves, pull out weeds and get rid of any clutter that may have accumulated in the garden.
Do you have an assortment of odd potted plants or summer vegetable beds that have done their dash? Create a vignette of stylish pots with evergreen foliage plants for the verandah, such as in the photo below, plant up your winter veggies or hide those pots away.
If your garden was planted early in 2019 or before, it's probably time to remove supportive stakes. So unless your trees or large shrubs cop the brunt of strong winds, remove the ties and pull out the stakes. It will neaten them up no end, and give them a chance to completely support themselves underground, rather than relying on the stakes.
Store away pool toys. You probably won't have the kids splashing around until next summer, unless you have super pool heating.
Tidy up your deck or verandah with a neat pot combo. Photo: The Balcony Garden