Your Ultimate Autumn Planting Guide

As we welcome cooler nighttime temperatures whilst still enjoying daytime warmth, we’re starting to think about our autumn planting schedule. There’s a lot to get done during this magical season, and thankfully we’ve got a great to-do list.

Your Autumn Planting To-Do List 

There’s something special about the cooler breeze, changing colours and fragrance of autumn in the garden. There’s also a lot to do before those icy days sneak up on us, which is why we’re sharing our autumn planting to-do list with you:

• Winter vegetables – if you are lucky enough to have a vegetable garden at home, you should be looking to plant seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, spinach, broad beans and brussel sprouts about now. Seeds of carrots, cress, leeks, parsnips and onions can be directly planted in the garden.
  
  
• NZ natives – autumn is the perfect time to plant the ever popular native trees, particularly Manuka and Kanuka. With softer wetter ground and cooler air temperatures, autumn provides the ultimate environment for newly planted trees to thrive in.
  
  
• Pip and stone fruit trees – just like our NZ native trees, planting of pip and stone fruit trees also occurs in autumn.
  
  
• Tree relocations – now is the time to dig up and move trees and plants within your garden. Make sure you dig away from the trunk and keep as much of the root ball in one piece as possible. It is much easier, and you are likely to have the best results when moving younger rather than more mature trees.

Autumn Garden Maintenance

Just in case you do not have enough to do (ha, ha!), there are a few other jobs you could consider doing during these autumn months too, including:

• Planting of spring bulbs
  
  
• Mulch areas of your garden to reduce weed growth and help protect plants from the upcoming cooler months.
  
  
• Feed and weed your lawn. Now is also a good time to reseed any bare patches or lay new turf.
  
  
• Make any necessary repairs to your compost bin or build one if you haven’t already got one! There will be plenty of colourful leaf matter to add to it.
  
  
• Get collecting any late seeds that are in your garden, putting them somewhere warm to dry. Keep an eye out for mould development. We find that paper bags or envelopes are best to store seeds in

Our tree nursery has a variety of NZ native trees, fruit and flowering trees all ready for your garden, or the garden of someone special. If you have a spare moment, take a read of our list of the top three autumn gardening projects while you’re here.