June 18th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

Part 2 of Our Guide to Keeping Your Garden Clean and Tidy, Looking at Autumn and Winter

Keeping your garden tidy in autumn and winter can seem like a thankless task. You’ll barely use your garden for entertaining, and many of your plants will start to die off for the cold season. Don’t lose heart, though; staying on top of your gardening now will make that big spring clean so much easier. Autumn and winter are the hardest times of year for gardeners but following our simple will make things much easier for you!

Autumn

Autumn leaves can cause havoc in your garden One of the prettiest times of year is also a royal pain for gardeners! As the weather changes, so do all your plants, so they’ll need a bit of extra care to help them get through the transition. While the autumn rain means you don’t have to spend as much time watering, the damp weather does mean there are some extra precautions you need to take to avoid moss, green mould, algae, root rot, and weeds from taking over your garden.

What to Look Out for in Autumn

Tidy Those Leaves

It’s an obvious one but getting rid of leaves safely is a huge part of autumnal garden maintenance. Leaves changing colour and falling from the trees are pretty, but if they fall onto your garden path they present a real slip hazard when wet. Fallen leaves also encourage weeds, green mould, and pests to grow in your garden, and can compost on your grass. With this in mind, you should rake up those leaves at least once a week – possibly more if you live near a lot of trees – and put them in a pile where they can compost away from your plants. Leaf mould is actually a great fertiliser for your soil, so let wet leaves compost safely in a controlled area for a few weeks.

Protect Your Paths

Simply Spray and Walk Away Even as you’re tidying your path of leaves, the damp conditions will still encourage green mould to grow if you’re not careful. This makes your garden look untidy, but it’ll also present a real slip hazard, especially when wet. The start of autumn is a good time to treat your path (as well as your patio, drive, and other hard surfaces) with some Simply Spray and Walk Away. This will not only kill any green mould that’s already growing there, but it’ll form a protective barrier over your path which will stop it from coming back for up to 6 months. This reduces the risk of weeds and pests entering your garden by eliminating the conditions that allow them to thrive!

Cut Down Dead Stems

Remove dead stems from your garden and put them on the compost heap. If you’ve got annual climbers in your garden, snip them down and remove the bamboo canes or trellises that they’re growing on. Clean these supports up and store them away, ready for next year. As with the other steps on this list, this’ll help you prevent weeds and pests from springing up in your garden while also removing unsightly dead stems to keep your garden looking clean and orderly.

Lawn and Order

Give your lawn one last mow and trim the borders before winter sets in. Make sure you cut your lawn a little higher than usual to help it last through the winter without getting a bunch of bald spots. Trimming the borders of your lawn, either with a strimmer or by hand, will also help your garden look clean and tidy alongside your newly-trimmed dead stems and clean path! You should also feed your lawn with a dose of iron sulphate to help it fight off those diseases come winter. Try and apply the iron sulphate when there’s rain on the way, which will help it naturally water down into the soil. This should keep your lawn strong and healthy right through winter, just keep it free of leaves and other debris to help it stay lush and green!

What to Look Out for in Winter

Snow Problem

Frost presents a big challenge for any gardener Don’t worry too much about snow in winter. You should keep your path and driveway clear, but as far as the rest of your garden goes, leave the snow to melt naturally unless it’s really heavy and damaging your plants. If you disturb snow and ice too much, it could actually damage the grass beneath it. This is especially true if you have artificial grass, which can snap off if it gets frozen. Let snow melt naturally to cause less disruption to your lawn, whether it’s real grass or Astroturf.

Mulch Ado About Nothing

Adding mulch to your garden is a great way to protect your dormant plants from frost, and from the harsh winter storms. It also adds nutrients to your soil and helps prevent weeds from sprouting throughout winter. A lot of nutrients can be washed away during heavy winter storms, so it’s always wise to give your plants a little extra protection.

Don’t Play Dirty

Patio and Driveway Cleaner More than snow and ice, what you tend to see a lot of in the British winter is mud! If you’ve followed the rest of our guide up till now, your lawn should be in good shape with no bare spots, but you’ll always end up with some mud on your paths and driveway. The wet weather makes mud pretty much unavoidable and you’ll usually end up with plenty all over your garden path, especially if you’re out in the garden a lot. This looks pretty dirty and will encourage weeds to spring up over winter. Clean off this muck with some Patio and Driveway Cleaner to give yourself a clean path or patio that’s ready for spring!

Planning!

One of the most important things you can do in winter is to plan what you’re going to do come the spring! Winter is when your ideas for the year ahead can take shape, but a bad winter can really scupper those plans so it’s important to keep on top of your tidying duties to make your life easier come the spring. Read part 1 of our guide to keeping your garden tidy in spring and summer to prepare yourself for the warmer weather ahead. Come springtime, you’ll be glad you did!