Lift and separate
Ornamentals
Divide summer-flowering perennials. (This may also be done in spring.) Most can be dug up, gently teased apart and replanted, though for those with heftier roots such as daylilies, delphiniums or hellebores, a sharp knife or spade may be required.
Replanting as soon as they are dug up is best, though take the opportunity while they are up and out to supplement the soil with a little compost before replanting.
Perennials with a single taproot or many stems sprouting from one crown tend not to take well to division. These include aconitum, baptisia, bleeding heart, candytuft, globe thistle, gypsophila and pinks, and are best propagated by seed, cuttings or in the case of pinks, slips.
Most hydrangeas, that is, your standard big-leaved hydrangea
(H macrophylla), lace-cap hydrangeas and oak-leaved hydrangeas, can be pruned now by snipping off flower heads. Older stems that didn’t flower this year can be cut back to near ground level.
Kill two birds with one stone by vigorously raking leaves off lawns – this stops them damaging the grass and removes the thatch which builds up on lawns, to their detriment.
Come autumn, many perennial weeds are ramping up seed production before winter kills them. These seedlings are easy to remove when they are little by scuffing them out with a gloved hand or hand hoe.
Prepare for tree-planting season. Research specimens, dig holes, and check out nursery sales.
Edibles
Sow carrots, coriander, winter lettuces, parsley, radishes, rocket, swedes and turnips.
Plant seedlings of bok choi, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, radish and spinach.
The cooler weather will ring the death knell for outdoor tomatoes. Any still-unripe fruit may be picked and used for the likes of green tomato chutney, or tasty (and easy) fried green tomatoes. Dead tomato plants can be composted, though it may be best to keep those with diseases during the growing season out of the main compost. (To this end, some gardeners with space in their gardens have another, slower compost in a far corner where larger pieces, plants with diseases etc may be placed. Eventually, they rot down and most fungal and bacterial diseases disappear in the process. In the meantime, they provide a thriving home for insects and other small garden creatures.)
Feijoas are ripe and ready for eating when they fall from the tree. Do not pick.