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SEPTEMBER
Sow beetroot, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, leeks, lettuce, peas, silver beet and spinach. Colourful annual flowers for summer include petunias, marigolds, ageratum and bedding begonias.
Culinary herbs should be established now.
Continue feeding lawns with specially prepared lawn food.
Spray bindii as it accurs with specific chemical. Choose a calm sunny day.
Turn the compost heap and use the well rotted parts for mulching and adding to garden beds.
Prune flowering shrubs which were not pruned in winter once they finish flowering, including the banksia rose and other wichuriana roses which flower on old wood in spring.
Take chrysanthemum cuttings - 10cm. off top, soft, succulent shoots. Water well.
Plant citrus trees if frosts are not still a danger.
Rub off buds growing inwards on rose stems.
Visit open gardens, exhibitions, flower shows and council parks for spring inspiration.
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OCTOBER
Put straw around strawberries (after frosts) to keep fruit clean.
Protect cherries and strawberries from bird attack.
Prepare dahlia beds. Dig in compost or manure and check drainage.
Lift and divide bearded iris if more than three years in the same pot.
Remove dead flowers from spring bulbs. Apply liquid fertiliser to leaves.
Cut asparagus, cabbages, cauliflowers, lettuce, spinach and pull radish.
Pick roses often to keep them flowering through to summer.
Dig garden beds for summer vegetables and sprinkle with agricultural lime.
Plant beans, beetroot, capsicum, carrots, celery, cucumber, eggplant, summer lettuce, marrow, melons, pumpkin, tomatoes and sweet corn.
Put indoor plants out in the rain - otherwise wash new foliage and keep free of dust.
Plant frost-tender trees and shrubs like jacaranda and luculia.
Remove suckers (the growth below the graft point) that appear on any plants.
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NOVEMBER
Keep a vigilant lookout for insects. Remove what you can by hand before using chemicals. Wear rubber gloves.
Sow annual flowers including: asters, balsam, calendula, everlasting daisy, marigolds, petunias phlox, sunflowers and portulaca; continue with the same vegetables as last month.
Water everything regularly if the weather is dry.
Drench potted or contained plants with water and then fertilise.
Pinch back azaleas and rhododendrons.
Prune pelargoniums and geraniums to create a compact bush.
Buy your living christmas tree and get it properly acclimatised.
Lift bulbs which have flowered and turned brown - or leave in place, water and fertilise.
Make an instant garden for summer with potted blooming annuals.
Restore worn lawn areas: break the surface, sow grass seed and protect. Look for intersting new lawn food and controls.
Plant dahlia rootstocks in well dug soil.
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