Autumn In The Garden

The heat is off but Susie White explains how you can keep the garden interesting and welcoming to wildlife.

There’s still plenty to see in autumn gardens, from glowing dahlias, purple asters and golden grasses. Why not plan a visit to an arboretum as leaves transform into vivid colours, or to a garden open for the National Garden Scheme?

As leaves fall in my own garden I see them as a harvest, raking them from paths and paving, heaping them on to the woodland border where they will rot down to keep my shade-loving plants happy.

After November I try not to walk on this border because bulbs will already be emerging. They will come up through the leafmould as it rots down.