Autumn gardening - Shrubs and trees

Autumn tree and shrub care is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this time of year. The first thing to remember is that trees and shrubs often have their nutrients removed by use being too tidy - every time we rake away the leaves that fall each autumn we remove a natural fertilizer - in nature, this would break down into nutrients that the plants rely on for the next year's growth. So if we can't allow this, we have to provide an artificial feed instead. However, let the leaves stay if you can, or bag them up into black bin bags and make them into compost. There is one exception to this suggestion - never leave apple leaves under apple trees because they encourage fungus and mildew, and remove windfall apples too, as they give off a gas that will accelerate the ripening of fruit on the tree, which is not what you want. Finally removing fruit from the ground will also provide a less incentive for wasps to hang around.

You also want to be feeding half-hardy shrubs to make the plants less susceptible to disease and frost damage. And this is the time of year to plant conifers and other evergreens while ground is moist and still warm and to stake plants likely to be vulnerable to strong winds - this is a task that certainly can't be left until the ground freezes. Protect tender tree specimens like Acers and other oriental trees and don't forget to shield or wrap any exposed conifers which might get wind-burn (turning them brown and scorched looking) by surrounding them with windbreak material.

Autumn tree photograph by bcmom, used under a creative commons attribution licence