There is a particular pleasure in a cottage garden in October. The last of the cosmos is still flopping over the path, the hips are reddening in the hedge and there is woodsmoke on the air. But the light has changed, the mornings have a bite to them, and the first frost is rarely far away. A few well-judged afternoons now will repay you tenfold next spring — and give the birds, hedgehogs and insects that share your plot a far kinder winter.

Begin With the Leaves

Leaves are the great autumn resource, not a nuisance to be bagged up and forgotten. Rake them off lawns and paths, where they smother grass and make paving treacherous, but keep them off the crowns of alpines, small perennials and spring bulbs, which can rot beneath a damp blanket.

Everything else can be turned into leaf mould, one of the finest soil conditioners you will ever make. Fill old compost bags or a wire cage, damp the leaves if they are dry, punch a few drainage holes in the bags and tuck them behind the shed. Oak, beech and hornbeam break down in about a year; sycamore, horse chestnut and thick evergreen leaves may take two, so keep them separate. Spread the finished stuff over borders, around trees and into your seed-sowing mix.

While you are out there, give the lawn a final tidy: rake out moss and thatch, spike the turf with a fork if it is compacted, and set the mower high for the last cut of the year. Leave the clippings off the grass in wet weather.

Mulch the Borders While the Soil Is Still Warm

The best moment to mulch is mid to late autumn, when the ground is still warm and worms are active, but before it turns cold and wet. Weed first, water thoroughly if the soil is dry, then spread a generous 5–8cm layer of well-rotted manure, garden compost or mushroom compost over the border.

• Keep mulch clear of stems, crowns and the necks of shrubs — a 10cm collar of bare soil prevents rot.
• Never mulch frozen or waterlogged ground; wait for a drier spell.
• Roses, fruit bushes, rhubarb, asparagus and hungry perennials such as delphiniums and phlox all benefit.
• Leave low-growing alpines and Mediterranean herbs like rosemary and thyme largely unmulched, or use grit instead of compost.

A mulch now seals in moisture, suppresses weeds and, just as importantly, keeps the soil temperature steadier through the freeze-and-thaw cycles of January.

Lift, Wrap and Shelter Anything Tender

Dahlias are the first to give in. Once the first proper frost blackens the foliage, cut the stems back to about 15cm, lift the tubers with a fork, shake off the soil and dry them upside down for a fortnight somewhere airy. Store them in barely damp compost in a frost-free shed, and label them — you will never remember which was which in March.

Cannas, pelargoniums, fuchsias, agapanthus and lemon verbena need the same treatment, or a move into a cool, bright porch or greenhouse. Tender herbs such as basil and coriander are best potted up for a sunny windowsill.

Pots left outside should be raised onto feet or bricks so they drain freely, then clustered against a house wall for shelter. Terracotta will crack in hard frost, so empty anything precious, and wrap the rest in bubble wrap or hessian. Keep dormant plants barely watered over winter — more are killed by sodden compost than by cold. Have a roll of horticultural fleece to hand for late sowings of winter salad and any tender shrub caught out by an early frost.

Prune Lightly and Leave Structure Standing

Autumn is not the season for enthusiastic pruning. Cutting back now encourages soft regrowth that the frost will destroy.

• Remove only what is diseased, damaged or collapsing — mildewed peony and phlox foliage, mushy annuals, fallen fruit from beneath apples and pears.
• Shorten tall rose stems by about a third to stop wind rock loosening the roots; save the real pruning for late winter.
• Leave lavender, rosemary and other tender shrubs alone until spring — an autumn trim can leave them vulnerable.
• Stand back and leave seedheads of teasel, echinacea, sedum, honesty and ornamental grasses. They feed goldfinches, catch frost beautifully and hold the border together when everything else has gone.

Plant Now for a Better Spring

October and November are planting months. Soil is still warm, rain does the watering for you, and roots settle in before the cold arrives.

• Plant daffodils, alliums and crocus now; save tulips until November to reduce the risk of disease.
• Order bare-root roses, fruit trees and hedging for planting from November onwards — far cheaper than containerised plants and they establish faster.
• Plant garlic and overwintering broad beans in a sheltered spot.
• Divide congested perennials and replant the healthy outer pieces.

Clean, sharpen and oil your tools before you put them away, wash and stack empty pots, and fit a leaf guard to water butts so they do not fill with debris.

Give the Wildlife a Hand

The tidiest garden is not the kindest one. Leave a corner deliberately untidy: a pile of leaves in a quiet border, a stack of logs with the bark on, a bundle of hollow stems tied together for solitary bees. A small gap at the bottom of a fence — the hedgehog highway — lets prickly visitors move between gardens.

Put out high-fat bird food and keep a shallow dish of water topped up; once hard frosts come, check it daily for ice. Ivy is a late-autumn lifeline for bees and hoverflies, so resist cutting it back until February. Leave berried hedges alone if you can, or trim only part of them, and never cut a hedge in earnest between March and August.

Then make yourself a cup of tea, stand at the kitchen window and watch the robin working the freshly mulched border. The garden is settling down — and so, with any luck, are you.