Seasonal hub · September – November
Autumn garden jobs in the UK.
Autumn is the best planting season of the year in the UK — warm soil, returning rain and months of root growth before anything has to support new leaves.
The main jobs this season
1. Plant while the soil is still warm
September to November is the window for spring bulbs, bare-root hedging, trees, roses and hardy perennials. Roots establish through autumn and the plants start next spring far ahead of anything planted in April.
2. Repair the lawn
Scarify, aerate, overseed and feed with an autumn (low-nitrogen, high-potassium) lawn food from mid-September. Keep new seed damp for a fortnight, then let the rain take over.
3. Taper watering, then stop
Cut watering frequency from mid-September as evaporation falls. Keep watering anything planted this autumn until the ground is thoroughly wet, then switch off for the year.
4. Drain and protect irrigation
Before the first hard frost, shut off the outdoor tap, open the end of the dripline to drain it, remove timers and filters, and store them indoors. Frozen water splits fittings and manifolds.
5. Collect leaves, not bin bags of compost
Rake leaves off lawns and paths and stack them in a wire bin or bag them with a few air holes. In a year you have leaf mould, the best mulch and seed compost there is, for free.
6. Lift, divide and tidy selectively
Divide congested perennials, lift dahlias in cold or wet gardens, and cut back anything diseased. Leave seedheads and hollow stems standing where you can — food and shelter through winter.
What to plant in autumn
- Spring bulbs: daffodils and crocus in September, tulips in November
- Garlic and overwintering onion sets from October
- Bare-root hedging, trees, roses and fruit bushes from November
- Hardy perennials and evergreen shrubs while soil is warm
- Broad beans and winter-hardy peas for an early crop
When to stop watering in autumn
Established beds and lawns need no watering from October in most UK gardens. Rainfall and low evaporation do the work.
New planting is the exception: keep watering trees, hedging and perennials weekly until autumn rain has properly soaked the soil, because a dry, windy autumn can kill a new plant just as surely as a July heatwave.
Autumn checklist
- Plant bulbs, bare-root stock and hardy perennials
- Scarify, aerate, overseed and feed the lawn
- Water new planting until the ground is wet
- Drain irrigation, store timers indoors
- Gather leaves for leaf mould
Water less, grow more
A zoned dripline system waters borders, beds and containers at the root zone on a timer, so the garden keeps going whether you are at home or away.
Other seasons