GARDENERS used to talk about putting the garden “to bed for the winter”. It was almost as though many thought that everything stopped growing in the garden after September or October and that the garden should be somehow closed down for the winter period.

Most gardeners can now see the very real beauty that remains in these cooler months. Over the last few weeks, I have been enjoying the autumn light in the garden and the way it has illuminated much of the foliage and flowers that continue to flourish including large-flowered daisies and anemones. We have a silver birch tree directly opposite our window and its whitish bark looks beautiful in the autumn sunshine.

It certainly isn’t all downhill in the garden at this time of year. There is much to look forward to over the autumn and winter months.

Soon our three witch hazels will be producing beautiful-scented winter flowers. Last year, I acquired scented Winter Sweet which I have kept in a warm spot near our front door over the summer and I am hoping for lots of scented flowers on this shrub in the coming months. From January onwards, we will have spring bulbs including daffodils of various kinds starting to flower as well as snowdrops and snowflake plants with their lovely white flowers throughout some of our borders. These are always a welcome sight in the darker months.

In the meantime, I have been busy this autumn trimming and pruning shrubs. I want to have enough space in the garden so that I can see our smaller flowering plants.

I have also spread a lorryload of green compost around the garden. Improving and investing in the soil and mulching it in this way is an important winter job for me. I shall also be dismantling my compost heaps to spread even more organic matter around the garden. This will have a most positive impact.

Meanwhile, keeping on top of weeds, tidying up pathways and clearing leaves from paths are all important jobs at this time of the year.

In addition, I have a number of tender plants and shrubs growing in containers around our bungalow and I will move some closer to our property to provide shelter and warmth and others I will be transferring to the greenhouse for the cooler months ahead.

The outlines and the frameworks of our gardens become more important over the winter months. Neat clear lines on hedges and shrubs will really help improve the way each garden looks.

So, there are lots of jobs to be done but also huge rewards to be had as you get the garden ready for a beautiful autumn and winter period.

We appreciate our gardens in different ways over the autumn and winter months. There is still lots to be doing and valuing in the garden over the months ahead. So, let’s not be putting our gardens “to bed for the winter” but instead enjoying all that they have to offer us.