Azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons with potash and keep well watered to encourage brilliant colour in the flowers. They also enjoy a light dressing of cow manure or Blood and Bone.

Stone fruit trees and the vegetable bed with a good dose of lime. You can lightly dust almost the whole garden and lawn with lime. Don’t get it near the acid loving plants like azaleas, ericas, rhododendrons, camellias and Natives.

Lawns with a liquid fertilizer while the Indian summer lasts. back to top

Snails & slugs with Yandilla Mustard powder, which is a by product which is safe for animals and children. Or try poison baits, beer traps or collect them by hand and drop them in a bucket of water, or if you have the room, get a duck or two.

Powdery Mildew on roses, zucchini and other plants with a fungicide spray.

Collect fallen leaves that have a fungal disease like black spot on roses or powdery mildew on zucchini or grape vines because they will infect your precious compost heap or bin. In these cases throw the leaves into the rubbish or burn them to prevent the spread of disease.

Aphids with a soapy water spray, garlic spray, pyrethrum or a chemical pesticide like Malathion.

Ants in the garden because they collect honey dew from aphids (almost like milking cows) and their activity discourages good predator insects like ladybirds.

Mealy bugs with Confidor.

Citrus Leaf Miner will continue well into Autumn so continue to treat with Pest Oil.

Rose Black Spot is still prevalent with continuing warm weather, so keep them looking smart with Rose Shield, which is a new combination systemic insecticide and fungicide. It is also less toxic than its predecessors.   back to top

Sow grass seeds or plant new lawn now. The roots will have plenty of time to form before the heat of summer but remember that it still only takes one hot day to do lots of damage to new lawn. Treat existing lawns with a soil conditioner such as Seasol.

Move plants that aren’t thriving. Maybe another tree is starting to create unwanted shade or the neighbour cut down their tree, which left your camellia exposed to the afternoon sun. Remember to dig the new hole first, add plenty of water, prune off about 1/3 of the foliage and keep as much of the root ball together as you can and do it quickly.

Plant a hedge now so it will be ready to take off when the weather warms up.

Do some paving or increase the size of your garden bed (less lawn to mow!) during Autumn. The weather is cooling down enough so you can mattock and dig without getting too dehydrated and hot.

Prune stone fruit trees after collecting the fruit.

Shallow rooted plants like gardenias, azaleas, camellias and daphnes need to be checked for soil moisture by gently poking your finger into the soil around the base of the plant. Give them a good soaking instead of a light sprinkle or by using a very soft spray nozzle.

Lift Gladioli when the stems have gone yellow and withered.

Ruthlessly dig up summer annuals that have seen better days. You might as well plant new annuals for autumn and winter colour such as pansies, violas, primulas and callendulars.

Take some rose cuttings to propagate and share with friends and neighbours.

Prune Berry fruits like blackcurrants, boysenberries and raspberries by removing canes that carried fruit this season (or last season if you haven’t done it for a while).

Prepare bed for new berry plants.

You still have time to plant Sweet Peas so get into it (don’t forget to add a handful of lime to the soil before you plant).

Plant citrus trees like oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit.

Prune hydrangeas by cutting the woody canes to the ground and leaving new canes to flower next season.

Rake up all those autumn leaves and put them to good use in the compost.

Prepare beds for new deciduous trees. Select your deciduous plants in Autumn, when they have their full autumn colour. The colour may vary slightly due to the weather conditions each autumn so select the ones that are the most spectacular now and you will be rewarded each year.  back to top

The vegetable garden well with manure, compost, blood and bone or complete fertilizer to keep everything growing fast and strong.

Continue to plant all types of lettuce, herbs and Asian vegetables because these do well as the weather cools and tend not to bolt to seed.

Plant some strawberries in the garden or if you don’t have the room, try a hanging pot. Prune existing runners to encourage new growth and fruit.

Plant winter vegetable seedlings like cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, broad beans, spinach, onions and parsnip.

Treat caterpillars on the vegetables with gentle fingers and a heavy rock, or you can spray with Dipel or Success which are both biological and only harm caterpillars.

Spray nectarine and peach trees with Bordeaux (when leaves have fallen) to control leaf curl. Add some white oil to the mix to help it stick.

Cut off any stems of asparagus and rhubarb which are going to seed. back to top

When you come to the nursery to get advice about what plant to put in a particular area it is sometimes hard to describe the area.

Now you can have a personal garden consultation to show the exact spot. One of our garden specialists will come to your home and give as much or as little advice as you need. They can give landscaping suggestions, like where to put a water feature. Or maybe workout why a plant is dying or not looking very healthy. Test your soil and recommend the right plants for that area or your whole garden. Sometimes it is just nice to know you are doing everything right.

There is a charge for the consultation but in return you receive a $50 gift voucher to use in our garden centre, so it really turns out to be money well spent because now you know what is right for your garden.  back to top