With the weather cooling down, now is the ideal time for gardening, growing veggies and planting colourful trees. Melissa King, horticulturalist and Northcote Pottery ambassador shares some simple tips to make the most of your garden this Autumn.
Autumn is the perfect time to get delicious cool season veggies into the ground for warming soups and stews. If you don’t have space in the garden, why not create a potted feast using a family of containers such as Northcote Pottery’s set of four Modstone Chambers U pots.
Fill the family with winter veggies that are perfect for pots, like Cabbage ‘Mini’ and ‘Mini White’ Cauliflower, which produce small but tasty heads. Don’t forget to include some leafy greens, like colourful ‘Rainbow’ Silverbeet, which can be picked leaf by leaf as you need it and added to salads and stir-fries. Throw in some tough, tasty herbs too, like Rosemary, Thyme and Oregano for winter roasts and cook-ups.
Vertical colour for outdoor areas is a must too, with hanging baskets full of flowers and lush contrasting foliage. There’s an amazing palette of autumn flowering plants to entice you, from colourful annuals like Pansies and Violas to vibrant late flowering Perennials, which will fill hanging baskets out beautifully. Have fun with the Thrill, Fill, Spill method of planting, using a mix of taller, ‘thrill’ plants that make a statement at the centre of the basket, then if you have space, surround with smaller, ‘fill’ plants and finish with to trailing beauties that ‘spill’ down the sides.
Winter and spring flowering bulbs like Daffodils, Tulips and Hyacinths provide beautiful seasonal displays in our gardens and give us something to look forward to coming out of the cooler months - and autumn is the perfect time to plant them. Grow bulbs in big, bold clumps with Shrubs and Perennials; plant them in grass or in drifts beneath Deciduous Trees. For small terraces or balconies, opt for decorative containers in a sunny spot.
There’s nothing like the soothing sound of water in a garden to wash away the day’s stress, so why not transform your backyard into a calming oasis with Northcote Pottery’s Sandstone Summit Water Feature. It’s easy to assemble, doesn’t require any plumbing and comes complete with pump and accessories. Water cascades gently down three decorative bowls, creating a delicate, trickling sound effect that help relax the soul. Surround it with lush exotic plants like Canna Lilies, Cordylines, Tropical Palms and vibrant flowers like Ixora and Frangipanis for the perfect resort-style escape.
Colourful leaves are a feature of the season and now is a great time to get some autumn foliage trees into the garden when you can see them in their full glory. Some good options are Acer Rubrum ‘October Glory’ as it turns fiery red in Autumn, or ‘Fairview Flame’ which lights up the garden with foliage in vibrant sunset shades. If you’re short on space, look out for smaller growing trees like Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’, with deep plum foliage that turns shades of yellow and orange as the weather cools, or grow standard Japanese Maples in big pots for a splash of colour.
