Empty pots and baskets of summer bedding and plant up with a new selection to provide colour and interest right through autumn and into spring. Use one or two small evergreen shrubs, such as euonymus or dwarf conifers, as structural elements within the pot, filling in around them with seasonal bedding to provide flowers during mild spells.

Stretch a large piece of small-mesh netting over ponds and water features to prevent autumn leaves from falling in. Peg down the edges. Pick off leaves regularly and take out any that blow in with a small net, taking great care not to damage butyl liners. Also clear away remains of dying aquatic and marginal plants.

During autumn the garden often produces more waste than you can cope with, so now is the time to consider investing in a shredder and additional compost bins. Recycling organic material by composting it is always preferable to having bonfires, as any neighbour will tell you!

If you are gardening on a tight budget, sow hardy annuals. These will quickly germinate and the thinned seedlings will flower earlier than spring-sown annuals.

Disconnect seeping hoses and drip irrigation that is no longer needed, give them a clean and store them away for the winter.

Finish sowing new lawns while the soil conditions are still warm enough for grass seed to germinate. Turf can still be laid in autumn, if the soil is not too wet.