in the garden

Brighten up your patch as the weather cools with pots of the three Ps – pansies, primulas and polyanthus. Pep up your garden’s

pastel tones with camellias. Worth checking out in nurseries are some of the sasanqua and japonica camellias available in soft pinks, creams and whites.

Cut back herbaceous perennials such as achilleas, aquilegias, asters, campanulas, centranthus, delphiniums, liatris and salvias. They will look tidier and the pruning readies them to burst back into life next spring.

Collect a few vegie seeds for sowing next season. Right for collection are seeds of beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers and corn. Allow seeds to dry before storing in an envelope. Tomato and cucumber seeds are best placed in a jar of water for a few days before drying.

Feed hungry lemon trees with a complete citrus fertiliser. For an extra boost, apply a seaweed tonic to keep the soil in good health. If scale is evident, treat with a product such as Yates Nature’s Way Citrus and Ornamental Spray. Smarten up lawns following the summer heat with an autumn feed.

Treat beds to an autumn feed of complete fertiliser, to strengthen plants for the chilly days ahead.

Supercharge unused vegie beds with humus and nitrogen by planting a green manure crop. Once it’s growing well, cut it down with a line-trimmer and dig it into the soil.

In cool regions, you can start planting springflowering bulbs such as daffodils, jonquils, muscari and hyacinths.

Plant a late crop of basil to add cool flavour to autumn salads. Devote half an hour

a week to weeding the vegie patch. A little effort now will save you loads of work later.