By October it's time to start tidying up the garden in preparation for the long relatively sunless and perhaps wet winter period ahead. Jobs can be divided into those that tidy up the garden after summer, those that allow it to hibernate over the winter period and jobs which prepare it for the coming spring and summer.

For autumn:

yellow-and-red-flowers--u17781027You'll need to split and divide herbaceous plants whilst weeding and mulching the border. Remember to remove diseased plants (or parts of plants) so they cannot propagate any further or spread the infection to other healthy plants. Winter is a prime time for this to occur. You'll need to check bushes and trees for stability, especially those that have grown a lot during the last summer and prop them up or re-stake before the winter storms.

If you have a pond or water feature ensure that you remove all the dead leaves and any excess vegetation from the pond, though you can leave it on the bank for creatures to crawl back in if you like. You can dig up and store the tubers from plants like dahlias as well as gladioli corms.

For winter:

You can cut the lawn for the last time if you live in the north, though further south you may well need another cut this year still, depending how mild it is over the coming winter. Recently it has been so mild over the winter period in places that with the mean temperature not falling below 6C it's been necessary to keep cutting right through the winter and early spring.

For spring:

You can plant trees and shrubs, as well as bushes, like roses- which will have time to establish well if planted now and settle in over winter in time to start to put out shoots in the early Spring as it warms up. You can also sow tree and shrub seeds and plant spring flowering bulbs. The earliest to flower are usually snowdrops in January and February, though they can flower until March; they need to be planted about 5cm deep.

Also you can plant spring crocuses, there are two key varieties; those that flower from about February to March and have a smaller corm. These do require well-drained soil. Thelarger bulbs with correspondingly larger flowers are generally Dutch hybrids and require at least some sunshine, again in well drained soil and will  flower in March and April. If you have had bulbs in already for a few seasons it's wise to lift and move them about every three years as this helps to keep disease under control.

Tulips can also be planted now and will do well in just about all types of soil, where there is decent drainage. You should plant them at least 10cm deep but watch out for damage to them by slugs and snails, as they shoot! In fact you also need to beware of other animals that may dig the bulbs up, especially squirrels, rabbits and rodents. If you dont mind the 'look' you can place some chicken wire over the planting area as this should deter them.

Whatever the winter brings the tips above should ensure your garden stays healthy and in a good condition to start the yearly growing cycle all over again.