– Cooler nights now, but still a good way from frosts: time to work on troubled lawns. Worn, stomped areas can be given a dressing of autumn feed (don’t use up the spring feed, that’s different), spiked with a fork and scarified with a rake to get some air into the soil. Don’t let leaves lie on the lawn any longer than necessary.

– Sow new lawns or patch repairs. Prepare a fine surface, dressed lightly with fertiliser, and sow the seed thinly and evenly. When 1-2in high, roll gently, then, when it has grown again, mow lightly at no lower than 2in high, and again two to three times before winter. Let no leaves lie on it, and start proper mowing next spring.

– Pull off the dying leaves from clumps of nerine bulbs, so the flowers can now rise from clean ground.

– Push foot-long cuttings of perennial wallflowers ‘Bowles Mauve’ and ‘Wenlock Beauty’ into shady ground now and they will root for next spring.

READERS' QUERIES

I have an ever-growing collection of Rhodohypoxis bulbs in my greenhouse. Do you think they are hardy enough to overwinter outside? It would relieve congestion if I could put some in the garden; but I don’t want to lose them. Mrs T. Cooney, Whitstable

Certainly you can grow Rhodohypoxis outside and they make a pretty, snowdroppy clump of pink, white or carmine flowers, rather like minute orchids. But like many small bulbs, especially those from southern Africa, they hate winter wet, which can kill them faster than sheer cold. The beauty of growing them in a cold greenhouse is that you can keep them very dry during the winter. So outside in the ground they should be planted somewhere sunny with really good drainage and lots of grit in the soil. A sheltered raised bed or rockery works well, but for perfectionists a Dutch light (open-ended mini cold frame) placed over the plant will keep the rain off, but let the necessary cool air in.

I have just had a patio built, supported by a south-facing breezeblock wall 5ft high by 20ft long, which abuts the lawn. I’d like to hide the wall with plants and I am considering fruit canes, although I am open to other alternatives. Any tips would be very welcome. Mr J. Dale, Dover

Raspberry canes always look a bit scruffy and weak, and ought to have more air around them. In such a prominent place, why not grow some long-armed espalier apples instead? They would at least give you permanent cover and winter structure, as well as flower and fruit colour. You might try redcurrants, too.

All kinds of things can be espaliered to make a bold feature, even on a low wall. Flowering quince (Chaenomeles) would give you stripes of orange, red or white. You can even make an espalier of weeping conifers (eg, a weeping blue Atlas cedar, as in the garden at York Gate, Leeds), training out the branches sideways to make long, furry arms. Quite a sight, I can tell you. Or you could plant a long bank of the fish-tail Cotoneaster horizontalis, shot through with some less rampant varieties of clematis.

stephen.anderton@thetimes.co.uk

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