Garden Care with the Reckless Gardener

Gardening Advice

Autumn Garden Care

Lawn Feeder

What you can do now to ensure your garden looks good through the autumn and winter and gets off to the best start next year? This is an active time of the year for gardeners what with general tidying, pruning, replacing summer displays, etc but there are plenty of things you can do now which will save time next spring and get plants looking good earlier!

Lawn Care and Bug Control

Lawn Care

For many people the lawn seems only to exist between the months of April and end of August. We spend the whole summer getting the lawn into great condition only to let it slide again at the end of the season. The secret to having a great lawn all year round often lies in a bit of autumn preparation.

Firstly the lawn still grows so it needs feeding but use a specific autumn preparation like Phostrogen Autumn Lawn Food which is high in phosphorous and potash to encourage root growth and hardiness. The nitrogen content is much lower than a summer product and is in slow release form which means the grass gets just enough to stay nice and green (so it doesn’t look so yellow next spring) and isn’t washed away by winter rainfall.

The lawn most likely will still need a haircut because although is slows down, growth never stops altogether unless it gets really cold! So set the lawn mower on a high setting and keep trimming every few weeks as necessary, and when conditions are dry enough. Spiking is the next most important operation and feeding and mowing. Use of the lawn during the season invariably means compacted areas of soil. This leads to poor drainage and root growth and the symptoms are often excess moss growth, areas of thin grass which dry out quickly in summer and a lawn that looks patchy. So use a fork, spiking or tyne tool and spike thoroughly. Thin or bare patches are best reseeded after spiking. Then sit back and enjoy the rewards through the winter and next spring when your lawn gets off to a flying start and doesn’t take months to get looking good.

Bug Control

Bug Control Why is it that the war pests wage on our plants seems never ending? Couldn’t they take a leaf out of the hedgehog’s book and hibernate for a while? Well actually some do - but not all. So here’s a list of which ones to look out for and what to do about them:

Vine Weevil – look out for the little, white, legless grubs in the soil of your pots and containers. At this time of year they infest the roots of plants chewing them away eventually causing them to keel over and die. This usually isn’t obvious until too late so the best treatment is to water Provado Vine Weevil Killer on now to kill off any in the soil and protect the plant from any further damage this season. If the treatment is repeated twice a year in April or May and again in August or Sept your plants should stay vine weevil free.

Slugs & snails – only tender plants, cuttings and seedlings etc being over wintered in the glasshouse, young plants been planted outdoors for winter displays e.g. pansies, and winter veg, need any protection from slugs and snails. Lightly sprinkle a few pellets like Bio Slug Mini Pellets around the plants when planting out or at first signs of any munching. Repeat as necessary in mild wet conditions when they are most active.

Houseplants pests like mealybug, scale and whitefly – at the first signs of pests, stickiness caused by honeydew, mottled leaves or rapid leaf drop investigate immediately. There are a host of bugs that happily enjoy the indoor conditions of our homes and rapidly multiply affecting the health of indoor plants. At the first sign of any pests use an excellent cure-all like Provado Ultimate Bug Killer which is also systemic and will deal will any eggs hatching later.

Caution - 'Always read the label. use pesticides safely.'

Phostrogen Autumn Lawn Food & Mosskiller contains ferrous sulphate.
Provado Ultimate Bug Killer contains imidacloprid and methiocarb.
Provado Vine Weevil Killer contains Thiacloprid.