Martin Gulliver writes - As the weather turns cooler, plants will slow down but there should still be plenty of colour. Go out and buy some perennials that are in flower now and you know you’ll have colour this time next year.
There will also be plenty of winter bedding available now – pansies and violas especially. They make very good hanging basket plants too. Most hardy bedding should last until the first frosts. Clear fallen leaves from beds and lawns and compost them. Put them in a plastic bag, pierce a few holes in it and by next year you should have valuable leaf mould! Raise permanent containers off the ground to aid drainage, and wrap tender ones in bubble wrap or fleece. Other perennials can be cut back and split up now. Discard the older central part and plant out the fresher outside growths. Leave seed heads on plants as they provide valuable food for birds ... and can look decorative when frosted.
Some light pruning can be carried out - mainly just to keep larger shrubs in shape. Those that you normally prune in spring, eg roses and buddleia, can be cut back by a third to prevent them loosening their roots in the wind, before the main pruning next year.
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