General Autumn Garden Tasks and Care
Lift and divide summer flowering perennials such as Agapanthus, Hemerocallis, Iris, Arums and Cannas in order to ensure prolific flowering in Spring. Cut their foliage back by one third.
Pull weeds up regularly before they go to seed.
Deadhead summer annuals that are still in flower and remove the spent ones.
Look out for cutworm and snails around new Winter and Spring flowering seedlings and place bait. Feed with a seedling food. Deadhead regularly to encourage flowering.
Azaleas, Camellias and Gardenias will start forming their buds now. Keep them moist by watering regularly to prevent bud drop before they open in spring.
Prune evergreen and hardy summer-and autumn-flowering hedges and shrubs once they have finished flowering.
Autumn is the perfect time to start a compost heap! Start collecting all the fallen autumn leaves and use as a mulch or add to your compost heap.
Water the garden early in the day and mulch generously around all plants to protect roots.
Stock up on frost protection fleece or hessian to protect tender plants during the colder months. Move sensitive potted plants to a protected spot.
Change the settings on your irrigation system to suit the temperature and rainfall for autumn.
Dead-head rose bushes and spray fortnightly with Copper Count to combat black spot.
Dead-head winter-flowering annuals to encourage further flowers. Continue planting winter-flowering seedlings and established Pansies, Violas, Poppies, Primulas, Calendula, Stocks, Sweet Peas, Cineraria, Primulas and Primroses, Alyssum, Gypsophila, Diasca and Dianthus.
Aloes, Pin cushions, Nandina, Abelia Francis Mason, Leea Coccinea and Gardenia all look amazing throughout Autumn.
Plant and transplant trees, vines, shrubs and hedging plants now.
Lawns
Mow lawns on a high setting and water if dry.
The end of March is a good time to sow evergreen and shade lawn seed.
The lawn should be treated with a potassium rich fertiliser like 3:1:5.
Indoor Plants
Bring colour indoors with flowering indoor plants like Cyclamen, Chrysanthemum and beautiful Phalaenopsis. Feed once a month with a liquid plant food for indoor plants.
Feed orchids in flower with Starke Ayres Flowering Orchids and those that have finished flowering with Starke Ayres Growing Orchids.
Reduce watering as the months get cooler. Protect from drafts to avoid bud drop.
Your Food Garden in Autumn
Divide and plant strawberries towards the end of the month in well composted beds or pots.
Ensure that cabbages are kept moist and feed them fortnightly with an organic, liquid seaweed- or fish- based fertiliser or once a month with a balanced organic fertiliser, like 6:3:4.
Pick the last of your spent summer vegetables like tomatoes, brinjals and peppers and pull up the plants. Prepare beds for winter vegetables by digging in a thick layer of compost and some organic 2:3:2 or bone meal according to instructions. Dig into the soil before they go to seed – they will release nutrients, especially nitrogen, into the soil, enriching and improving it for summer crops.
Keep citrus trees moist while the fruits are swelling and thin fruit out if the tree is overloaded.
Plant winter vegetable and herbs seedlings out into prepared beds, having removed the spent summer veg.
Plant leeks, Swiss chard, peas, winter lettuce, oriental greens and brassicas.
Do a final harvesting of annual herbs. Dig up what’s left and add to the compost heap. Rosemary and Mint can be nurtured in the autumn months.
Plant deciduous fruit trees like peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots.
Divide and re-plant rhubarb plants.
Harvest the last of your potato crop.
Now is a good time to experiment with growing mushrooms! See our divine selection from the Mushroom Factory at our inside information desk.
Also keep an eye open for signs of cutworm around young vegetable seedlings and place bait if necessary.
Our fabulous Herb Guide is a tool worth digging into
Companion planting is a wonderful skill to hone int
Feeding and Fertilising Your Garden in Autumn
Feed the garden and lawn with a potassium rich fertilizer like 3:1:5 to help to strengthen the cell walls before winter frost arrives.
Give roses a final feed of 3:1:5 and water twice a week if rainfall is low. Continue checking and treating for fungal and insect infestations. Catch up on your rose care skills by reading our Rose care guide.
Give acid-loving plants like Hydrangeas, Azaleas and Camellias a dressing of acid-compost.
Plant a green manure like Lucerne, clover, mustard or buckwheat. Dig these into the soil before they go to seed – they will release nutrients, especially nitrogen, into the soil, enriching and improving it for summer crops.
Feed fruit trees that have finished fruiting with an organic 8:1:5 fertiliser.
Feed all berries with an organic 3:1:5 fertiliser.
Start feeding summer bulbs as soon as they have finished flowering with a special bulb food or 3:1:5. They will store this food in their little bulbs in preparation for their spectacular show next season.
Feed vegetables with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, like an organic 8:1:5 or Vita Veg 6:3:4.
Feed all seedlings with Talborne Seedling Food or a water-soluble fertiliser.
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Greetings
Sunrise Agrifarm was established in 2016 and been making leaps and bounds in growth and innovation over the past years, and have spread its foot prints all across South Africa and beyond completing numerous projects. The merit of our Company is to offer a comprehensive service of design, fabrication, supply and installation of greenhouse tunnels across South Africa and Sub-Sahara region. We can ensure timely project completion, end to end quality management and budget control.
