Despite the cooling temperatures and signs of oncoming winter, this early period of early autumn can still be a busy time in the garden. It’s a favourable time to be planting, so think about your garden beds and whether there are any gaps or problem spots – and give us a call if you need some help!

  • This is probably the last time to clip your hedges until late winter or early spring. The end of summer leaves our shrubs with plenty of new growth, but it can also leave our gardens looking a bit tired with heat stress, so this is a great to time to give things a trim and tidy up, removing anything damaged or burned back to healthy tissue. Make sure you don’t clip your camellias though! They have set there flowerbuds now and some C. sasanqua will already be in flower – let them put on their show first before doing any trimming.
  • Autumn flowering plants are a way for the garden to compensate for the ravages of Sydney summer; Salvia like S. leucantha and its vigorous hybrid descendant ‘Anthony Parker’ are great for achieving both volume and colour in a perennial or mixed border that might be looking a bit tired by now. Mass planted Persicarias like P. amplexicaulis add an interesting twist with their strongly vertical flower spikes, but remember they’ll go dormant in winter, so you’ll need to plant something under them to enjoy in the cooler months – violets are a great choice. In a shadier spot, the Japanese Toad Lily Tricyrtis is a favourite, with its lush green foliage and starry flowers held out floating above the leaves.
  • Keep your fallen leaves! It won’t be long before our lawns and paths are dotted with the leaves of deciduous species, and many people continue to rake these up and dispose of them in the green bin. While this does go to a commercial compost facility, this process is effectively removing nutrients and carbon from your soil, so why not keep it on site? If they fall in the garden, let them decompose in place, as long as plants under the trees are not buried – pull any mounds of leaves away from stems and trunks. If they fall on the lawn, you can mulch them up in the lawnmower and rake the remains into the lawn to provide a carbon boost for the soil over winter.

OUTHOUSE offers in-person consultations with qualified horticulturalists to help you get the most value out of your landscape. We can provide verbal advice, planting plans or a full landscape design. Get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

View past tips for April here!