How to keep a step ahead of Jack Frost

What will protect outdoor plants from frost? Maria Hart, Birmingham DAVID: Being prepared for frost is really important as it can strike any time from now. Applying mulch around plants and shrubs can help to prevent top soil from freezing. Covering plants overnight with an old blanket or frost fleece is also a good idea. With really vulnerable container plants, like dahlias, it is best to bring them indoors overnight. supporting the grass’s roots, which will get going again early next spring.

Also, if you keep down the weeds and trim the hedges, this will keep up appearances and benefit you later on in autumn.

Next, get some autumn bedding. Adding some late colour to borders and containers will give your garden a lift.

Most summer bedding plants are starting to finish flowering around now, so removing and replacing them with autumn and winter bedding works wonders.

Choose violas, pansies, polyanthus and cyclamen for a fantastic pop of colour over the coming months.

Varieties such as trailing ivy and Hebe elliptica also provide intriguing foliage throughout the colder months coming our way.

The big champions of the month, however, are chrysanthemums and winter-flowering heathers.

Chrysanthemums come in a variety of beautiful autumnal hues and will flower well into winter.

Similarly, heathers like Erica carnea, which are known for their amazing variety of pinks and whites, will provide beautiful colour throughout autumn and winter.

Shrubs are also a smart idea for autumn colour.

Brilliant autumn-flowering shrubs include late-flowering hydrangeas and hebes.

There are lots of different colours and varieties to choose from and hebes are a great nectar source for bees and other pollinators too.

Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ is another fantastic option. At first