Abbie Melle
Autumn is the perfect time to assess your outdoor spaces and your garden and create a checklist of the tasks that need to be completed in order to prepare for an abundant year. Doing so will ensure your garden bed has enough nutrients and organic matter to take it through the cooler weather of the winter months and give you a bounty next spring.
Jason Hodges, landscape expert and Adbri Masonry brand ambassador, shares his autumn job list with us to get busy with a garden fork with the sun still on our backs in early autumn and give your Australian garden a head start.
This time of year in Australia is ideal to hit the tools and really get your hands dirty. “For me, autumn is a great time to work on the garden, the soil is still warm but the days are more comfortable for us to work,” says Jason.
Here are Jason’s top gardening tips for making the most of this time of year.
1. Mulch everything
This includes deciduous trees and the kitchen garden.
“Order a load of mulch and get busy this weekend, it dresses the garden up, suppresses weeds and retains moisture helping your soils overall condition. Healthy soil equals happy, healthy plants,” says Jason.
2. Apply plant food
Administering a slow release fertiliser is one of your most important gardening jobs all year round, but never more important than during the growing season.
“Fertilise your lawn and garden, as a healthy lawn going into winter will stay greener longer and recover quicker coming out of winter,” says Jason.
3. Plant fruit trees and flowering bulbs
New plants going into the soil at this time of the year have the best chance for good root growth and nothing says early spring like a burst of flowering fruit blossom.
“Autumn is a brilliant time to plant citrus and bulbs. Plant them now and they will be established well for spring growth. The same goes for bulbs – plant them now and you’ll have a show-stopping garden in spring.”
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