Now that the foliage has begun to turn to all the beautiful colours of autumn, let us prepare for the deluge of leaves that soon will fall. It is time to set aside some space to store all the fallen leaves and to let them rot down into leaf mould. This is a great addition for the soil in the summer beds as it releases nutrients and helps keep the soil loose where it is clay and helps retain moisture where it is sandy.
Simply fill an empty composter with the leaves and add composting activator. Black plastic bags filled with fallen leaves works just as well as a composter if you don't have one, when left to one side.
As your deciduous shrubs and trees become bare and their skeletal shapes appear, take the opportunity to weed out any weeds that were once hidden by their foliage, around their roots. This is also the perfect time to remove dead or diseased branches and any over crowded limbs that may be rubbing or simply making the plant look unbalanced.
It is a good time to asses the size of the plant in comparison to the rest of the garden layout and reduce the crowns and regain lost space and reduce over crowding of companion plants.
Finally, give your hedges a cut before winter, so that they may be neat until the warm weather returns and so that you don't disturb the nesting birds in spring.
