Story Title: What to do in your garden this week
Episode 1: WA's Great Gardens
Date: 16th May 2010
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

Trevor says 'I think autumn is the best time of the year to be in the garden, the weather is magnificent and plants start growing again, emerging from the extreme heat of the hottest summer on record and driest conditions. Get out now and it's virtually impossible to go wrong.'

Autumn Chores

• Pruning
• Now is the time to make sure your plants are well trimmed and can do with sever pruning.
• If your plants are beyond reach, use an extension pruner. There's no standing on ladders and taking the tops out is easy, it's also critically important to make sure branches don't come in contact with power lines this summer.
• When the branches are a bit thicker, get a power gear lopper. Loppers are perfect for cutting thicker branches but power gear pruners have a gear mechanism that cut through thick branches like butter making the job easy.
• The earlier you prune roses the better for early flowering. If you want a staggered flowering process try pruning every third rose now, prune every second rose in mid June and every third rose in mid august. The effect will be continuous flowering from early spring into early summer.
• Mulch
• Mulch now to improve soil health, reduce evaporation and most importantly at this time of the year it smothers weed seeds.
• Fertilising
• Autumn fertilising will promote strong growth and provide plant nutrient demands. Use Shades of Green Fertilisers.
• Watering
• It's critical to turn your watering time clock off or into rain mode. We will be getting enough rain and dew at night for your garden to survive – indeed thrive. Now is the time to get the sprinklers off and let our dams fill up again.