The days are shorter and the air is fresher, but fingers crossed for lots of autumn sunshine, whilst refreshing and revamping your outdoor space.

1. Prune summer flowering shrubs, such as Lavatera, Sambucus, Buddlejas by a third.

        

  

2.  Lift and divide early flowering herbaceous perennials that have become less floriferous to ensure the best display for next year. Only choose plants with crowns of foliage and fibrous roots, such as Geums, hardy Geraniums, and Primulas.

         

3. Give your garden a new look for next year.  It's the best time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials whilst the soil is still warm and the roots can set down before winter.

            

4. Choose some vibrant, cheerful bulbs to plant in your garden for a fantastic spring display. We have a large selection available now.

           

5. Apply Autumn lawn feed to give your grass a boost after the summer weather.

6. Move hardy evergreens now if you need to, giving them a little trim at the same time.

         

7. Feed birds regularly with seeds/nuts and fruits to encourage a greater variety of birds to your garden.  For example, Goldfinches love niger seed, woodpeckers adore peanuts and blackbirds cant get enough of the odd apple thrown on the lawn.

8.  Give your borders a tidy up (trying not to prune anything that can provide a valuable food source or home over winter)  and add a good layer of mulch to protect and improve the structure of your soil.

9. If you haven't already then plant up some winter containers for some new colour on the patio. Click here for some plant ideas.

          

10. Move tender plants, such as Pelargoniums into a frost free area before the end of the month.  Remove any dead or diseased material and check for pests.

11. Encourage more birds into your garden by planting a native crab apple, birch or hawthorn as a food source for them to enjoy.

12. Gather fallen leaves and store in compost bins or hessian sacks for a fantastic leaf mould that can be used on borders later on.