Vegetables

• Onions and potatoes need to be got out of the soil before the cold, damp days of autumn arrive.
• Onions must be kept in the light and potatoes need to be stored in the dark to prevent them from turning green, but both have to be stored somewhere that will keep the frost out.
• Cut courgettes and marrows regularly because they will be finished by the end of the month, as will outdoor tomatoes. Remove any green tomatoes and place them in a drawer or shoebox to ripen.
• Plant out earlier sown spring cabbage and protect with netting or fleece..

Fruit

• Harvest apples and pears as they become ready and pick the late season strawberries and raspberries to keep them producing fruit. They will keep cropping right up until the first frost.
• Complete the summer pruning of soft fruit bushes, apple and pear trees. Continue with their training and tying in.
• Wasps are attracted this time of year due to the ripening of your fruit. Hang wasp traps in fruit trees and protect any grapes from wasps with netting or mesh. But also remember that wasps are the gardener's friend because they are major predators of aphids and caterpillars at this time of the year.

Greenhouse

• Cooler days mean it is the perfect time to sow the seed of the Oriental vegetables. They will germinate quickly and are hardy enough to withstand the cold of winter and will provide a steady supply of fresh leaves well into the Spring of next year.
• Make a sowing of hardy winter lettuce and spinach. There is still time to sow an early variety of turnip to be able to use the tops as greens.

Flowers

• Leave any sunflower seedheads in place for birds to feed on.
• Fill any gaps with late-flowering perennials, such as sedums, to provide nectar for pollinating insects into autumn.