{Simple Home} Autumn in the Garden

It’s early November, the leaves have almost all fallen from the tree at the end of our garden and most of our summer blooms have died down for the year. Early Autumn is the perfect time to cut back all the dead growth, prune and tie back, sweep up the leaves and store to make leaf mulch and get your spring bulbs into the earth. I’ve chosen to plant tulips and narcissus bulbs for our Spring garden and opted for shades of peach and apricot to bring a little colour during those barren and cold months as Winter breaks into Springtime. I’ve also added some cheerful wallflowers dotted about the beds which will work well with the tulips to give some lower level colour and coverage.

When planting tulips make sure you put them about 8 inches down and space them 6-8 inches apart. You can even layer them if you’re planting up pots of containers. In my taller patio pots I’ve planted two layers of tulips so that they flower in succession giving interest for longer and seeing you right into late Spring.

Now is also a good time to sow some seeds indoors or in a cold frame to protect them from frosts. During our visit to my mum’s last week Elsie helped Mum sow her sweet pea seeds. They popped two seeds per segment in a seed tray, pushed them in to secure them and gave them a light watering. Little hands love to get grubby helping out in the garden and it’s a lovely way to encourage a conversation about seasons with children.

The best part about gardening at this time of year is you’re laying the foundations for lots of beautiful displays early next year when the garden wakes up from the frosts and needs some life breathed into it. I bought my tulips from Sarah Raven this year and opted for their Apricot Sorbet,  and Apricot Beauty collections but you could try your local nursery for bulbs and young wallflower plants. Now is the time to put them in the ground so get them in this weekend before it gets too cold.

What jobs have you been doing around the garden and is there anything in particular you’d like to know about keeping a simple, family friendly garden. I’m very excited that mum has agreed to collaborate with me on a series of gardening posts so I’ll put your questions to her and report back soon!