Cooler days and chillier nights are nature's way of telling us that summer is over and growth is starting to slow down. Your garden is getting ready for the autumn and winter months ahead.

But this doesn't mean you should let up on your gardening. Now is the perfect time to start planting for spring.

Spring-flowering bulbs are available now, and it's also a great time to plant trees. Plant trees, shrubs, roses, vines and groundcovers now so that they can establish themselves before winter arrives.

Lay a new lawn

Autumn is also a good time to lay a new lawn, or to give your established lawn a last feed of fertiliser like 3:1:5 (26) SR.

Where necessary fertilise plants. In most cases this will be the last feed for the summer.

This is also the time to mulch beds where necessary.

If your deciduous trees are starting to drop leaves, use them as mulch in stead of throwing them away, and remember to remove fallen autumn leaves from ponds to prevent the water going cloudy.

There is still time to dig up and divide overcrowded perennials, like agapanthus, dietes, ornamental grasses etc.

Keep your winter and spring-flowering shrubs well watered to prevent buds from dropping.

Start thinking about covering your frost-sensitive plants — especially tender climbers, palms and tree ferns.

What to plant?

Sow Namaqualand daisies, calendula, cornflowers, stocks and nemesia seeds.

For spring flowering bulbs: anemone, babiana, bearded Iris, Louisiana Iris, bodiaea, Dutch Iris, freesia, hyacinth, ipheion, ixia, lachenalia, muscari, ranunculus, scillia, sparaxis, tritionia and tulbachia bulbs.

Seedlings: Plant alyssum, antirrhinums, Bellis perennis, candytuft, calendula, cineria, delphinium, dianthus, foxglove, gazania, hollyhocks, Iceland poppy, lobelia, ornamental kale, pansy, petunia, primula, schizanthus, sweet pea, stocks and viola.