Enjoying autumn

Not surprisingly autumn is voted the favourite season of so many gardeners - the days are usually sunny but just pleasantly warm, and there’s that little bit of freshness in the morning air. It doesn’t take much to entice us outside where it’s so enjoyable that attend- ing to the many garden chores doesn’t seem at all onerous.

But as well as being a pleasant time of year it’s also quite a busy period in the garden. We need to finish clearing out those tired looking summer veggies and to add some organic manures into the beds to prepare for winter crops. This could be compost, manures, even some autumn leaves will add to the mix soon. Another way to get organic matter into the soil is to sow a green manure crop. Special green manure mixes of efficient nitrogen- fixing plants can be purchased, or you can use

old left-over seed you might have (especially legumes), and just sprinkle it thickly and water well. Before it flowers or sets seed just

dig it over and work it into the soil - or you can even just leave it on top of the soils and cover with more compost. (Also a very handy use for those leftover sprouting seeds you buy to add to your salad!) Perennial plants and herbs, such as salvias, oregano and lemon balm can now be cut back to new growth to prevent them becoming woody. As we have mentioned over the past few weeks, it’s also an excellent time to be planting out new trees and shrubs, especially natives, as the soil is still warm but the days not so hot as to stress the newly transplanted specimens. If well-watered and mulched now they will get off to a good start and acclimatise well before the winter cold sets in. And as we have also mentioned - an excellent place to find those local trees and shrubs ready to plant out in your garden is the Goulburn Valley Tree Nursery in Tatura.