Springtime is the ideal growing season. The perfect time to enrich your garden: plant spring bulbs such as daffodils and tulips, clear up the dead leaves and cut back your perennials. Summer fosters growth and stability for your new plants and such progress should be maintained as much as possible during autumn before the colder months take hold.

Autumn is normally a dry season and a mediator between the winter frosts and the heat of summer. Still, it can offer some amazing opportunities to use your garden, and proper preparation will ensure it flourishes in the next year. We’ve collated some tips on how to prepare your garden for autumn, read on to find out more.

5 Autumn Gardening Tips

Here are a few of our tips to prepare your garden for autumn and the cold weather more effectively:

1. Plan for the next season

The very first step of preparing for autumn is examining your garden and deciding what you want from it in the medium to long term. This is the time of year when most plants thin out or die back, leaving you with somewhat of a blank canvas.

Walk around and look at what’s needed to keep it in better form. Identify the problems in your garden including:

• Overgrown or overhanging plants in need of a prune
• Poor soil which could benefit from some added nutrients or mulching
• Herbs and tender plants that need to be wrapped up or moved indoors
• Falling leaves that need to be cleared

All of these things will help indicate areas where you can improve your garden, giving it a new lease of life for the season.

2. Make your patio more functional

Do you already have a patio in your outdoor space? If yes, then autumn is a great opportunity to properly pressure wash the slabs. This can transform your patio completely if you have a good quality pressure washer. Once you have cleaned your patio you can customise it according to your family requirements ready for use next spring and summer. Consider different types of patio shapes, paving and size to make it more functional.

We advise doing adequate research to design and take advantage of your patio for the years to come (for example, think about house extensions and outdoor structures – gazebos, pergolas and awnings).

3. Bring the herbs indoors

Autumn is the perfect time to remove your potted herbs and transport indoors before the first frost and wet weather. By doing this carefully, you can enjoy fresh herbs for an extended period of time. Alternatively, you could move your pots to the warmer corners of your porch where they get an appropriate amount of sunlight without being exposed to the frost and wind.

4. Consider outdoor heating

If you plan to be in the garden during the cooler autumn and winter months, keeping your patio warm is a must. You can invest in a fire pit or gazebo heater to stay toasty warm while using your garden furniture during colder evenings, rather than only using it during the summer months.

5. Light your garden up

We find that outdoor lighting is always a good investment and something that enhances an outdoor space all year round. Decent lighting can be an option to add warmth and style to your patio space.

It doesn’t have to be a massive overhaul of your existing space, either – get some solar string lighting or hang a few lights parallel to your seating area to create a beautiful ambient feel without breaking the bank.

However, if you want to get a more care-free look with your lights, then you can drape them on the branches of your trees or loop them in a fence. The soft and cosy glow of twinkling lights can add a sparkle and warmth to your garden.

We hope that you will make the most of our tips to fully prepare your garden and outdoor space for autumn. For more garden advice and inspiration, check out the Lawnmowers Direct blog.