As the leaves out there start to turn gold, it’s more than tempting to go on a bit of a rampage around the garden. The clean-up kind, of course. Some homeowners heed the urge, while others hole up indoors and let autumn take its course in their garden. Both approaches, oddly enough, can lead to some expensive garden-care headaches come spring.
We’ve seen it all here at Paramount Gardening. The too-enthusiastic lawn cuts and the gorgeous greenery were smothered under blankets of wet leaves. Autumn is a vital pivot point in the seasons, the best time to keep disease at bay and lay the groundwork for further growth in spring.
This guide exists to help you get it right. Here is our breakdown of the top autumn gardening mistakes NZ homeowners make, and how you can avoid them during your residential gardening.
Mistake #1: Cutting back a little bit too much.
Pruning often stimulates new, tender growth. In the NZ autumn, a sudden early frost can zap that new growth, causing dieback and leaving the plant vulnerable to disease or even death during the winter months.
A general rule of thumb is the harder you prune the more you stimulate growth.
How to handle your pruning:
Focus on using pruning to manage your plants’ health, rather than anything else. Tackle the three ‘D’s: dead, damaged, or diseased wood. Save any heavy structural pruning for mid-winter, when plants are fully dormant. If you’re not sure, it’s always better to leave a bit extra than to take too much.
Mistake #2: Letting leaves suffocate your lawn.
While those fallen autumnal leaves look beautiful and natural, it’s not a good idea to let them sit on your grass for weeks. However, this is one of the most common blunders we see when homeowners take on their autumnal lawn care in NZ.
A thick layer of wet leaves will essentially suffocate your grass, blocking sunlight and trapping moisture against the soil. This creates a perfect breeding ground for fungal diseases like brown path or the dreaded Fusarium.
What to do with your leaves:
Take the time to rake or blow away dead leaves at least once a week. If you happen to have a mulching mower, you can shred a light layer of dry leaves directly onto the turf to provide organic nutrients. But if you can see more leaves than grass, then it’s time to get out the rake.
Mistake #3: Forgetting to feed the soil.
One of our most important autumn garden tips is to continue feeding the soil even when autumn rolls around. In terms of lawn care NZ homeowners often assume that their soil won’t need much attention until spring, but the opposite is actually true.
By the time spring finally arrives, the soil can be spent and compacted, low on essential nutrients to help new plants and shoots grow. Without a solid boost of organic matter in autumn, your plants will struggle to find the energy they need for that big spring flush.
How to feed your soil:
To avoid this most common of gardening mistakes NZ homeowners should layer on some aged compost, a thick mulch of bark, or some pea straw. This insulates the roots against the cold, all while allowing worms to work those nutrients into the soil over winter.
Mistake #4: Compacting your waterlogged grass.
Soil compaction is the silent killer of a great lawn. When you walk on wet soil, you squeeze the air pockets out of it. This prevents oxygen and water from reaching the roots, leading to thinning grass and an invasion of moss and weeds.
Despite this, one of the most common gardening mistakes NZ homeowners make is continuing to trek across the lawn, all while the autumn rains have turned the ground soft and squishy.
How to prevent compaction:
Stay off the grass when it’s sodden. If you have high-traffic areas, consider installing stepping stones or a dedicated path. If your lawn is already struggling with drainage, autumn is the perfect time to aerate the soil with a garden fork or a core aerator.
Mistake #5: Ceasing the watering.
Finally, we have to pay homage to watering. Many Kiwis think they can stop watering their recently planted trees and shrubs because of all that autumn rain. Now, while established plants need less water in autumn, anything planted in the preceding six months still needs consistent moisture to establish a strong root system before winter brings on the frost. A dry autumn wind can actually dehydrate a young plant faster than the summer sun.
How to keep your garden hydrated:
Watering needs differ from soil to soil. Heavy clay soils can be soaked less frequently, but sandy soils need lighter watering more frequently due to their lower water-holding capacity.
At the end of the day, when life gets busy, it’s easy to stumble into any of those gardening mistakes in NZ’s climate. But sometimes it’s that to-do list of autumn gardening tips that can keep the garden thriving well into the following seasons. That said, that list can often feel as if it’s growing faster than the weeds.
Need a hand with your residential gardening?
We are Paramount Gardening, your elite property care partners. For everything from autumn garden tips to help with lawn care in NZ, we are here to help.
Get in touch for a free quote on your autumn garden care today.
