Trim waving wands for magic buds
Ornamentals
Cut off the long, whippy wisteria wands to five or six leaves to both control the size of the sometimes-too-vigorous plant, and also to encourage it to form flower buds rather than green growth.
Prune rambling and non-repeat flowering roses (and those who do not bear hips worth leaving on).
Keep camellias and rhododendrons well-watered to ensure next year’s buds develop well.
Trim lavender plants after flowering to keep them compact.
Feed perennials after they have finished flowering to help them build up crowns for next season.
Green manure
As crops are harvested and beds are not needed till spring, sow a green manure as soon as possible. This will grow over autumn, mopping up nutrients and preventing them from being washed away over winter. Dig back into the soil in early spring. The green manure plants release nutrients back into the soil as they break down. And thus the nutrients will be used by new season’s plants to help them grow – a most satisfying cycle.
Edibles
Sow coriander, parsley, Asian greens, beetroot, carrots, celeriac, lettuce, small onions, parsnip, rocket, sorrel, and silver beet.
Earth up celery. Wrapping it lightly in paper will stop the earth getting into the middle of the plant.
Place pumpkins and other cucurbits on a piece of wood or the like to protect them from soil damage and rotting. Remove leaves shading pumpkins as they need maximum light to ripen.
Codling moth lava will soon be crawling down pipfruit tree trunks to overwinter at ground level. The presence of codling moth is easily recognisable by a hole in the skin of the fruit, which commonly is surrounded by frass, pushed out as the larva burrows in. Bands that trap the larvae as they descend the trunks are commercially available.
Cut back raspberry canes after fruiting. – Mary Lovell-Smith