In The Flower Garden

• Plant daffodil bulbs in pots and borders
• Check roses for suckers and cut off any you find, just below ground
• Trim conifer hedges to neaten their appearance and control height
• Empty pots of faded early summer bedding, adding old plants to the compost heap
• Buy tulip bulbs as soon as you find them but hold back from planting until late October-November
• Dig up gladioli corms after flowering to store until next spring
• Collect seeds, lay them out to dry, then store them in labelled envelopes
• Prune rambling roses, cutting out old stems that carried flowers and training in new shoots
• Take lavender cuttings by pulling off new shoots and inserting them in gritty compost
• Cut back perennials past their best

The Fruit and Vegetable Garden

• Keep picking summer-sown salads to prevent the plants running to seed
• Plant garlic cloves outside or in modular seed trays ready to plant out later this autumn
• Cover herbs like basil and parsley with cloches, or bring potted ones under cover
• Harvest globe artichokes
• Stake tall Brussels sprouts to stop them from blowing over
• Dig up chicory roots, cut off their tops and re-pot for forcing, to grow on in a dark shed
• Wrap grease bands around the trunks of apples, pears, cherries and plums to trap the crawling female winter moth
• Cut off whole trusses of unripe fruits from outdoor tomatoes before they’re hit by frost and ripen in a sheltered spot
• Plant out spring cabbages
• Dig up onions and lay them out in an airy space to dry before storing

The Greenhouse

• Take root cuttings from Japanese anemones and oriental poppies
• Pot up prepared hyacinths into bowls for indoor displays
• Pot up rooted cuttings taken in summer and early autumn
• Plant paper-white narcissi in pots
• Remove shading paint and netting to let in plenty of light
• Water dormant pots of cyclamen that were left to die down for the summer, and keep them in cool conditions
• Plant freesia corms in pots
• Check greenhouse heaters are in working order
• Bring pots of tender perennials and summer bulbs into the greenhouse
• Install a water butt under the gutter of your greenhouse to collect autumn rain fall

Generally

• Lay new turf and re-sow bare patches of lawn
• Pot up colchicums into decorative containers for bringing into the house
• Put up bug boxes to provide places for beneficial insects to hibernate
• Cut attractive seed heads for indoor arrangements
• Spread netting over ponds or water features to stop autumn leaves falling in
• Buy spring bulbs for autumn planting
• Order bare rooted roses, shrubs, fruit trees and hedging to plant over the coming months
• Brush away fungi and mushrooms growing on lawns
• Build a leaf bin out of posts and chicken wire to collect autumn leaves into
• Rake moss and thatch from lawns
• Sow pea seeds for shoots to add to salads.