Garden Studios

Keep deadheading them and also you should get flowers until the frosts start.

But now’s the time to choose whether to go away your rose bushes and shrubs to form rose hips with a purpose to turn orange or red to give autumn and winter colour, and food for garden birds.

Unlike rose shrubs and bushes, rambling and climbing roses have finished flowering whether you deadhead or not, but these look particularly good for those who leave the hips to colour up.

They usually have numerous frothy little flowers that become attractive sprays of hips.

The problem is that late summer and autumn is likewise the highest time to prune climbing roses and ramblers.

So why not compromise? Where possible leave the rosehips for a spring tidy-up, but bring to an end any side shoots that reduce to rubble a well-trained framework.

You wish to prune these side shoots so that they only have two or three buds, then tie them in to prevent them whipping around in high winds.

You must also cut out dead and dying branches of ramblers and climbers now.

But shrub roses and bush roses don’t must be pruned until early spring, so that you can benefit from the rose hips and birds they attract until early March.

Then, just cut the most important stems by 1 / 4 to simply above a healthy bud that faces outwards. Sideshoots can be trimmed by an inch or a number of centimetres, and any dead or damaged branches may be cut out completely.

Towards the top of September you too can start taking hardwood cuttings out of your shrub roses.

Cut a pencil-thick shoot of about 12inches or 30cm long and trim off the growing tip and all but a couple of sets of leaves near the tip.

Next, trim the bottom of the cutting to about 9inches or 23cm, immediately below one of many sets of leaves you’ve trimmed off.

Choose a place inside the garden that is hidden away, and dig a narrow trench deep enough in order that upon getting pushed within the cuttings only about one third of every stem is above ground.

Firm them in together with your foot and water them regularly – particularly through next spring and summer – and by next autumn it is possible for you to to maneuver the cuttings that have taken root to wherever you desire them for your garden.

You could have to dodge the downpours over the following few days, but if you get a raffle it is advisable to start by scarifying your lawn with a springbok rake to clear away the thatch of dead grass, moss and other debris.

Next comes aeration, which improves drainage and helps to forestall moss. Just use a border fork and walk up and down your lawn spiking it every six inches or in an effort to let air into the soil.

This drainage holes may even help to stop puddles forming in your lawn during heaving downpours.

Alternatively, you need to use core aerators with hollow tines to take out little plugs of soil. Ironically, though, unless you will have a motorised aerator it’s harder work to push any such along the grass than simply using a fork.

Follow this by top dressing the lawn with a 50/50 mixture of sand and fine compost with the intention to go down the aeration holes to feed the grass and replace the soil’s nutrients used up throughout the summer’s growth.

Now can be a great time to level bumps and hollows by cutting a cross within the lawn and rolling back the triangles, then filling the hollow with top soil or levelling off the bump.

Worn out patches or grass damaged by pets or fungus may be reseeded now before the soil gets too cold.

You may also give your grass an autumn feed high in phosphates and potash. This will likely help the roots survive winter and result in stronger grass next year.

Don’t use spring or summer lawn feeds, because these have nitrogen in them and should produce lush green growth which may be vulnerable to cold weather.

If your grass is dry enough you ought to also keep cutting your lawn on a high setting for the following few weeks.

Meanwhile Briggs & Stratton, which makes engines for Allett lawn mowers, has launched a Pitch to Win competition aimed toward non-professional under-18s football teams that play on a whole sized pitch within the mainland UK.

The top prize is a £3,000 football pitch makeover and Ian Small, Briggs & Stratton’s UK head of sales and marketing says: “We are looking to hear from girls and boys teams.

“Keeping our children fit and healthy is massively important and we’re reintroducing Pitch to Win as a part of our commitment to that aim.

“We are launching the contest in October and entries may be judged on the end of the 2013/14 season.

“The winning team can have a brand new pitch surface for the subsequent year plus completely new strip while runners up may also receive new kit and £500 towards the club’s kitty.”

For details about the Pitch to Win competition visit www.pitchtowin.org.uk.

It’s had a tricky year this year and very will appreciate slightly TLC.

You’ve sat on it, played games on it, cut it back at any time when it has tried to grow, added to which summer drought after which torrential rain has stopped it growing, started it up again and customarily given it a little bit a beating.

Now you could, after all, just ignore it and let it get on with life, but my five-point plan will guarantee that it’s far better equipped to provide its all again next year in case you take time to position maters right over the following couple of weeks.

When the elements has cooled down and rains are, over again, encouraging grass growth, go over the lawn with the mower, cutting it no less than an inch. That’s step no 1.

Next, hire a powered lawn raker. (You are able to do the job with a wire-toothed rake for those who like – it is going to improve your abs no end – but a powered lawn raker is each piece as efficient and easier at the body.)

Go over the lawn pushing the raker from side to side just like vacuuming a carpet. Check the setting first to make certain it’s not too low, or you’ll emerge as pulling out greater than you bargained for.

The aim is to tear out dead grass (thatch) and moss, leaving the living grass extra space to grow.

The lawn will look slightly a sight when you’ve finished the job, but you will be doing it an influence of excellent in the end.

Step number three is to spike the full area.

You can try this with a garden fork, stabbing it in to a depth of 4in every 6in or so around the lawn and wiggling it about.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to hire a lawn aerator in an effort to remove small cores of soil which could then be brushed or raked of.

For step four, sweep sharp sand into the crevices the spiker has created when you garden on heavy soil that may be badly drained, or John Innes No.2 potting compost in case your garden soil is sandy and susceptible to dry out.

Step number five is to use an autumn lawn feed. As an organic gardener i really like to take advantage of blood, bone and fishmeal, but proprietary lawn feeds designed for autumn use also are available.

(Avoid feeds designed for spring use for the reason that high levels of nitrogen they contain will encourage excessive sappy growth, that is undesirable in autumn.)

With your autumn lawn-care programme completed, you may rest assured that by next spring your greensward shall be fighting fit and an excellent complement to the home.

Do it every autumn and your lawn would be the envy of your neighbours and a credit in your handiwork!

For additional info on his range of gardening products, visit www.alantitchmarsh.com.