PROPERTY NEWS - Being prepared for autumn is the best way to make the best of your winter garden and get the best from your plants in spring and summer too. Getting ready for autumn doesn't have to be a big deal.

Here are some small, easy steps to help your garden through the change in season:

Watching your garden's transition from summer to winter can be beautiful, but watching your plants die as the weather changes is awful. Not only is it terrible to watch your garden die, but it also puts your plants at a disadvantage in the next season. 

Let your summer flowering plants go to seed and deadhead your winter flowering plants. This means you can collect seeds from summer plants in preparation for spring and will increase flowering in your winter flowering plants.

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If you're thinking of planting trees, hedges and shrubs or transplanting ones you already have, you need to do it before the weather gets colder. Autumn is a good time to move plants because it is the least strenuous season for them.

Move your plants before the strain of winter and give them time to take root and settle before the springtime growth spurts.

Evergreens are the life of your garden in winter, and though they are hardy and strong, they do need seasonal care. In winter your evergreens are the stars of the show and their needs become glaringly clear. For strong and beautiful evergreens, take care of them through the seasons without exception.

Like your summer perennials, most weeds go to seed as the seasons change. It may look like your garden is clean and weed-free while the weeds have gone to seed, but in spring they will come up with your actual plants and may overrun your garden and hamper the growth of plants and seedlings you want.

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