Things to do this month:

Cut your lawn as short as possible. Take a hard iron rake and collect all the old grass. This is called thatch which can destroy your lawns by preventing water from reaching the roots of the grass. Once you have removed the thatch, rake the grass with the iron rake. This cuts the runners and encourages new shoots. Take a fork and spike the soil to aerate and allow air movement into the root system. Sprinkle a handful of Superphoshate per square metre over the lawn. Then take a mixture of topsoil, compost and river sand and spread a thin layer over the entire lawn. You can buy this already mixed from Gromor. Water well every two to three days. The new growth will appear very soon. Feed lawns every three weeks with a high nitrogen fertiliser.

Remove all dead and dying parts of plants. If the plants are infested with insects, remove the affected part or use a natural insecticide to spray plants. A healthy plant generally won’t be attacked by pests.

Many bulbs and underground rhizomes will be emerging and will require encouragement to grow. The blood lily, Scadoxus puniceus, has all but finished for the season and will now be going to seed. This plant invites all the seed-eating birds to feed on the fruits who then act as carriers for this seed to other parts of your garden and others in your neighbourhood. Protect these bulbs and any others by mulching, composting, fertilising and watering.

Plant lots of indigenous grasses which are the new "in" plant used in landscaping. They are easy to grow, look good, need very little attention and attact birds. Aristida junciformis (Gongoni grass), Themeda triandra (red grass), Eragrostis curvula (weeping lovegrass), Digitaria eriantha (digitgrass) and Melinis repens (Natal red top). You can mix and match these grasses to get the different textures of each.

Lift groundcovers such as Tulbaghias, Crassula multicarva, Chlorophytum bowkeri or and of the other species of Chlorophytums and your Bulbines. Compost the soil, add 3.2.1 fertiliser and replant. Water well. Cut back your Plectranthus ciliatus, add compost and fertiliser and water well. New growths will appear soon afterwards.

Encourage birds and butterflies by planting plants that attract them.

Grasses, milkweeds and some of the citrus family trees like Vepris lanceolata or the African dog rose, Xylotheca kraussiana which is the food plant for the red Acraea butterfly, are good examples.

Repot all indoor plants. Remove the plants from the pot, remove as much of the old soil from the roots and wash the roots with clean running water. If there are any old, dead or dying leaves remove them as this can cause fungal problems and finally death of your prized plant. Buy new potting soil, add some compost and fertiliser and replant these plants ensuring they are not planted too deep. Make sure you also put the plant in the right size pot and always plant in the centre of the pot. Add slow release fertiliser to the potting medium such as osmocote which will release small amounts of nutrients every time you water the plant. Make sure with indoor plants that you take it outside every two weeks and give it a good soak down with water. This rejuvenates the plant.

Ensure you do not over water the plant as too much water will rot the roots.