Autumn is one of the busiest and most useful times of year in the garden. A few jobs done now in October and November make a big difference to how your lawn, hedges and borders look next spring. Here is our checklist for gardens across Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon.
1. Give the lawn its last cuts
Grass keeps growing slowly until the weather turns properly cold. Keep mowing when it is dry, but raise the mower blades a notch so the grass is left a little longer going into winter. Avoid walking on or cutting the lawn when it is waterlogged or frosty, as this damages the grass and compacts the soil.
- Raise the cutting height for the last few cuts
- Rake up fallen leaves so they do not smother the grass
- Clear moss and thatch with a firm rake if the lawn feels spongy
Short on time? Our lawn mowing and lawn care visits run right through the season.
2. Collect fallen leaves (and put them to use)
Wet leaves on paths and patios get slippery, and on lawns they block light and encourage moss. Gather them up regularly. Healthy leaves can be piled in a corner or bagged to rot down into leaf mould, a free, crumbly mulch for your borders in a year or two.
3. Tidy beds and borders
Cut back perennials that have collapsed or gone mushy, and pull out annual weeds before they set seed. It is fine to leave some sturdy seed heads and hollow stems standing over winter, as they look good in frost and give shelter to insects and birds.
- Remove weeds while the soil is soft
- Cut back collapsed perennials
- Spread a layer of mulch or compost over bare soil
See our planting and weeding service for regular bed and border care.
4. Plant spring bulbs and new hedging
Autumn is the time to get daffodils, crocuses and other spring bulbs into the ground. Late autumn into winter is also the traditional season for planting bare-root hedging and trees, while the plants are dormant and the soil is still workable.
5. Plan your hedge cutting
Autumn and winter, outside the main bird-nesting season, are a good time to cut back and reshape overgrown hedges. Always check a hedge carefully for nesting birds before cutting at any time of year, and be aware that cutting roadside and field hedgerows is restricted in Ireland during the spring and summer months.
Find out more about our hedge cutting and pruning.
6. Clear up before winter
Take a walk around the garden and deal with anything that will be harder to fix in January: overgrown corners, piles of cuttings, blocked drains and gullies full of leaves. Bring delicate pots into a sheltered spot and raise containers onto pot feet so they drain freely.
If the garden has got away from you this year, a one-off garden clearance now means a fresh start in spring, and we can take all the green waste away for you.