Autumn Gardening Planner

Early Fall

• Prepare beds for spring planting.
• Plant spring bulbs, except tulips, in beds and lawns.
• Plant containers and baskets for winter color.
• Take hardwood cuttings.
• Sow sweet peas for an early display the following year.
• Plant wallflowers for spring color.
• Bring houseplants back indoors, checking for pests and diseases first.
• Protect slightly tender exotics from frost by wrapping in fleece.
• Cover slightly tender perennials with a thick mulch of straw or bark chippings.
• Move tender dahlia tubers and cannas inside.
• Turf or sow lawns.
• Apply a fall lawn fertilizer to established lawns.
• Lay chamomile lawns.
• Make a woodpile shelter for wildlife.
• Prune hedges for the last time.

Late Fall

• Plant shrubs, roses, trees, hedges, climbers and fruit bushes.
• Plant tulips.
• Sow broad beans.
• Plant onions and garlic.
• Grow trees from seed.
• Indoors, plant amaryllis bulbs and prepared hyacinths and narcissi.
• Trim late-flowering shrubs to reduce winter wind damage.
• Rake up fallen leaves and compost.

Any Time of Year

• Make a compost bin; fill, turn and empty when necessary.
• Make a wooden obelisk.
• Create a bog garden.
• Dig out a pond.
• Make a border and lawn edge.
• Make a rose arch.
• Check tree ties, and loosen if necessary.
• Look out for pests and diseases, and take appropriate action.
• Cut out dead or diseased wood.
• Clean all cutting tools after use to prevent spreading plant diseases.