As the days become shorter and the weather cooler, you know winter is not far away. Your thoughts will turn to what you need to do to prepare your garden for winter.

General Gardening Tasks

Weeding is a never-ending job. It is important to remove as many as possible before winter, otherwise you will have rampant weed growth in spring. Many weeds respond better to weed-killer applications now than at other times of the year.

Putting down a thick layer of mulch will suppress weeds and protects the roots of plants. Much of the mulch layer protection comes from providing more even temperatures that make sure roots are not stressed from an on-going cycle of freezing and thawing. It is best to wait until the ground is getting colder to do this in order to discourage any mice from making their winter homes in the mulch.

Autumn is the ideal time to plant new shrubs and trees. Autumn and winter allow strong root growth to develop. The new plantings should be well established before the hot dry days on summer arrive.

As the leaves fall put them on your compost pile as they convert to great organic matter.

Any potted houseplants which have been outdoors will need to be moved back inside. This process should be done in a two-step process to order to protect them from climate shock. Give them a few days is a shed or garage before bringing them into the house.

If your area is susceptible to heavy frosts make sure you disconnect any garden hoses. This is to make sure fittings do not split due to frozen water.

Grass will have a head-start in spring if work is done to remove weeds such as dock. An application of a specialised lawn fertiliser now will also lead to lusher growth in the new growing season.

Flower Garden

If any plants are looking unhealthy or diseased this is an ideal time to dispose of them. Put these plants in the rubbish rather than putting them on the compost pile.

This is also the time to plant out any bulbs. Most bulbs need the winter chill so that they flower as expected the following spring.

Winter annuals can be planted before the soil temperature gets too cold. If you are well prepared then you can plant out seeds. However, the potted seedlings will probably have a better success rate. Good flowers for winter colour are pansies and stock.

It is good to cut perennials back, but do not do this before the plant heads into its winter dormancy. The plant needs to transfer energy through to its roots for the winter lay-over and if cut back too early, this won’t be able to happen.

Vegetable Garden

The vegetable garden becomes a lot less busy over winter. Pull out any old plants before winter so any eggs laid by insect pests don’t hitch a ride through to spring. This old plant matter can be worked directly back into the soil to improve the soil condition.

If you have winter crops planted such as parsnips, broccoli or leeks, they will benefit from staying in the ground. The winter temperatures convert natural sugars in these plants making them tastier.

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•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://photodune.net/licenses/photo
•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://photodune.net/licenses/photo

These tips were brought to you by Luis Simmons and Rhodium (rh-45.com) – Luis is a property blogger from London and loves to share is home improvement and interior design ideas.