There's still plenty you can do in your garden in the autumn

Is autumn a time when you should flee the garden and put your feet up? Hardly. Our most seasoned mail order seeds customers here at Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) know that this is the perfect time to think and plan ahead so that their garden really does look resplendent again in the spring. With less vigorous maintenance being required, it's a good time to ask yourself what lessons you've learned from your gardening over the past year. If you're a vegetable gardener, for example, should you have had that row of onions alongside that row of carrots, and is there a better way of keeping your soil fertile than just digging?

Asking yourself such questions allows you to stop doing what isn't working, and instead experiment a little. Your potatoes, for example, may be continually blighted, leading you to consider orca or Jerusalem artichokes instead. Instead of growing the usual carrots and cabbages that you can find everywhere, why not grow what can't be easily bought, such as globe artichokes, romanescu or strawberry spinach? Even those of our customers who still grow tomatoes might peruse our online store for more unusual varieties from the likes of Thomson and Morgan Seeds and Sutton Seeds.

But looking after your garden in the autumn also often entails caring for any trees that have become dormant. Deciduous trees may shed their leaves until spring, but we'd avoid taking these leaves to the tip, given the many nutrients that they contain. Instead, you could mulch the tree with leaf mould, returning the nutrients to the soil. You can create leaf mould by raking up the fallen leaves, watering them slightly to aid their rotting and then packing them into a black bin bag or other suitable container, making several holes in the bottom before loosely tying the bag closed. The bags can then be left a year or two, before the leaf mould is used to mulch your trees.

Of all of the ways in which your garden can look better come springtime, adding some colour surely has to be at the top of the list. If you want an ocean of gorgeous flowers in February and March, now is the time to plant those bulbs. Go for variety in your choice of flower seeds, and there will be various types of flowers to enjoy at various stages of the coming year, including snowdrops in early spring, followed by daffodils, crocus and tulips by May, when your garden should be at its zenith.

Struggling for ideas on how you can plant now to ensure a truly vibrant garden when the spring and summer arrive? Peruse the Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) website now for the most complete range of affordable seeds online, from some of the most in-demand brands - and don't be afraid to contact us for any advice prior to purchasing. Happy autumn!

Editor’s Note: Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.