While there are a huge amount of plants that you can plant in the autumn in order to give you a beautiful blooming garden in the spring, there are also many plants that should be avoided
This weekend could be the last chance to get stuck into your garden before winter sets in.
From protecting your delicate plants from frosts to using fallen leaves as nutrient-rich compost and soil topper, green-fingered folk are likely to have a lengthy autumnal to-do list. While many bulbs can be safely planted during this season, there are certain plants that should be avoided due to their inability to withstand the cold while young.
Planting dahlias or most geraniums now could result in a garden full of frost-bitten plants and devoid of the spring blooms you were hoping for next year. A significant amount of planting should occur in autumn, provided it’s timed correctly.
According to Gardener’s World, it’s best done when the soil is moist but not cold – so early autumn is ideal for many plants. If you’ve left it a bit late this year, some plants will be better off waiting until spring as they’re not robust enough to survive the frosts.
Agapanthus, geraniums, canna, verbena, argyranthemums, begonias, dahlias, marigolds, fuchsias, salvias, and fruit trees like olives and lemons are among the many plants that can’t be planted outdoors or sown into the ground at this time of year. This is because they are native to much warmer climates than the UK, such as the Mediterranean, making them ‘tender’ or not hardy, according to Plews Garden Design.
The Royal Horticultural Society advises protecting tender plants already established in your garden over winter with horticultural fleece, cloches or moving them to a greenhouse or lean-to during the frosty months. However, there are many frost-hardy plants that you can still place in your garden in the autumn.
Daffodils, tulips and snow drops should all be planted at this time of year – and snow drops in particular will provide you with the optimistic sight of the upcoming spring as one of the first blooms of the year. Lillies and allium bulbs can also be planted at this time of year as can herbaceous perennials like Yarrow.
