How to prepare your garden for winter: cutting back, mulching and autumn bulbs

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Autumn is not the end of the gardening year; it is when you set up next spring. A few hours of work now protects tender plants, feeds the soil and gives you flowers in March. It also helps to know what not to do, because a garden scraped bare for winter is worse for wildlife and often for the plants too.

What to cut back, and what to leave

You do not need to cut everything down.

Cut back perennials that have collapsed into mush or that are prone to disease, such as those with mildewed or spotted leaves. Remove diseased material rather than composting it.
Leave standing sturdy seed heads and stems, such as ornamental grasses, sedums, teasels and many daisy-type flowers. They look good with frost on them, feed birds and shelter overwintering insects. Cut them down in late winter or early spring before new growth starts.
Do not hard-prune most shrubs in autumn. Pruning can encourage soft new growth that frost then damages. Most pruning waits until late winter or after flowering.
Deadhead and tidy annuals that have finished, and pull them up for the compost heap.

Leaves: a free resource

Rake leaves off lawns, paths and small plants, where they block light and make surfaces slippery. Then use them.

Pile them in a corner, or put them in bags with a few holes, to make leaf mould, a superb soil improver after a year or two.
Leave some under hedges and in borders for hedgehogs, beetles and other wildlife.

Mulch the beds

A mulch is a layer spread over bare soil. It protects roots from cold, reduces weeds, and is gradually worked into the soil by worms.

Use garden compost, leaf mould, well-rotted manure or bark.
Spread a thick layer over moist soil, after weeding.
Keep it clear of the stems and crowns of plants, which can rot if buried.
Leaving soil bare over winter lets rain wash nutrients out and weeds take over.

Protect tender plants

Check the labels or a reliable plant database to see how hardy your plants are where you live.

Move pots of tender plants into a greenhouse, a porch, a cool bright room or simply against a sheltered house wall.
Raise pots on feet or bricks so they do not sit in water and crack in frost.
Wrap plants that cannot move, such as tree ferns or bananas, in horticultural fleece when hard frost is forecast. Avoid plastic directly on foliage; it traps condensation.
Lift tender bulbs and tubers like dahlias in cold or wet areas once frost blackens the foliage, dry them and store them somewhere cool and frost-free. In milder gardens, a deep mulch over them may be enough.

Plant bulbs for spring

Autumn is bulb-planting season, and timing varies by type. The RHS suggests planting daffodils by the end of September and tulips in November; later-planted tulips are less likely to suffer from a fungal disease called tulip fire. Crocus and hyacinths fit in earlier in autumn too. In colder climates, plant earlier; in warmer ones, later.

As a rule of thumb, plant bulbs at about two to three times their own depth, pointed end up.
Plant in groups or drifts rather than single rows for a natural look.
Layering different bulbs in one pot, latest-flowering deepest, gives months of flowers from a single container.
Store bulbs you cannot plant straight away somewhere cool and dry.

Lawns, ponds and water

Give the lawn a final high cut and clear leaves off it.
Take a net off a pond before it fills with leaves, or net it now and clear it regularly.
Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses and insulate outdoor taps so they do not split in a freeze.
Keep water butts collecting rain, but empty and bring in anything small that could crack in a freeze, such as watering cans left full.

Look after your tools

Clean soil off spades, forks and trowels, dry them and oil the metal lightly.
Sharpen and oil secateurs and shears.
Drain fuel from petrol mowers or follow the manual for winter storage.
Store tools somewhere dry to stop rust.

What does your garden need before winter where you live, and which bulbs are you planting this year? Share your plans and questions in the comments.