5 tips for a colourful autumn garden

Summer is slowly coming to an end, but that certainly doesn’t mean your garden has to lose its colour and liveliness. In fact, with the right choices your outdoor space turns into an atmospheric, warm and surprisingly lively spectacle in autumn. At De Kroon flowers garden centre we’re happy to help you make the most of this season. With these five practical tips you’ll get your garden ready for a colourful autumn!

1. Choose trees and shrubs with beautiful autumn colours
Autumn brings perhaps the most beautiful natural colour palette of the year. By choosing plants with striking autumn colour, you can enjoy fiery shades of red, orange and gold for weeks before the leaves fall.

Japanese maple (Acer palmatum): An absolute classic with beautifully cut leaves that blaze from bright orange to deep red in autumn.

Hydrangea: Did you know that many hydrangea varieties take on lovely dried-flower-like, bronze and purple tones in late summer and autumn? Only cut them back in spring.

Snowy mespilus (Amelanchier): This stunning shrub or small tree treats you to white blossom in spring, but shines in autumn with spectacular red and purple leaves.

2. Go for cheerful berry shrubs and fruits
As the summer bloomers slowly fade, berry shrubs take over. They bring colour to the border and are also a lifeline for local wildlife.

Firethorn (Pyracantha): Offers clusters of red, yellow or orange berries that stand out beautifully against the evergreen foliage and are loved by blackbirds and thrushes.

Holly (Ilex): With its characteristic evergreen leaves and eye-catching red (or yellow) berries, holly creates a real atmosphere in autumn and winter. It also offers shelter and food to garden birds.

Cotoneaster: Perfect as ground cover or a low hedge, with dense clusters of red berries.

Checkerberry (Gaultheria procumbens): A compact little plant with striking, large red berries that looks lovely in pots on the patio or balcony.

3. Plant now for a flying start in spring
Autumn is the ideal time to look ahead. It is the moment to get spring-flowering bulbs into the ground. The soil is still nice and workable and also sufficiently moist.

What should you plant now? Think classic tulips, cheerful daffodils, hyacinths and early crocuses.

Why now? By planting the bulbs now, they have the whole winter to build a strong root system. As a result, they burst into exuberant bloom all by themselves in March and April!

4. The ideal planting time for trees, perennials and hedges
Many gardeners think you can only plant in spring, but nothing could be further from the truth! For several reasons, autumn is the best planting time for the bigger jobs in the garden:

Warm soil and rain: The soil still holds the warmth of summer, and the autumn rains provide natural watering.

No growth stress: Because plants go dormant in autumn, they don’t need to put energy into making new leaves. All their strength goes into the roots.

A head start next year: Trees, shrubs and hedges that you plant now will be well rooted by spring and grow much faster next year than plants put in during spring.

5. Tidy up, but not too thoroughly
It’s tempting to make the garden completely ‘neat’ in autumn, but a little untidiness is actually good for nature!

Clear where needed: Remove fallen leaves from the lawn and garden paths to prevent the grass from suffocating and people from slipping.

Leave things for nature: Feel free to leave faded perennials, ornamental grasses and hollow stems standing until early spring. They provide a vital place for useful insects and birds to shelter and overwinter.

A beautiful sight: With a touch of morning frost or autumn dew, those dried seed heads and stems also look incredibly atmospheric and elegant.

Visit De Kroon flowers garden centre!
Have these tips made you want to roll up your sleeves? Curious about the beautiful autumn plants, berry shrubs and spring bulbs waiting for you in our shop right now?

Do you have questions about which plants thrive best in your garden soil?