AUTUMN is the main planting time of the year for most plants; as one well-known garden writer said: “Summer planting is as inappropriate as wearing a bikini in church”.

The most important procedure to ensure the health and longevity of plants is properly preparing the soil before planting.

I’m repeatedly called for advice where plants have failed from simply not being planted with that little bit of extra care.

Here is my simple guide to planting, which will give plants a good chance of a long life:

• Ascertain if the plant is for full sun or shade/semi-shade.
• Check the height and spread of the plant on its label.
• Don’t plant in the same hole of previous plants.
• Ensure you know where services such as gas, water, phone etcetera are located.
• Check that the ultimate height and spread of trees will be clear of overhead power lines.
• Make the hole only slightly deeper and wider than the pot size. For example, if the nursery pot is 200mm wide, make the hole about 300mm wide. If the plant needs staking, position the stake before planting to avoid root damage.
• Water the plant while still in the nursery pot with a plant nutrient.
• Fill the planting hole with a seaweed plant nutrient to promote root growth and let it drain away.
• If the ground has a high clay content dig the hole as deep as you can, this may only be half the ultimate depth. Fill the hole with a “ground breaker” from a garden centre and let it soak away. If the clay is dense, it could take up to a full day to drain. This is preferable to gypsum, as it soaks deep into the soil.
• Plant the tree or shrub with the soil at the same level as in the original pot (if grafted, make sure the graft is above the soil line).
• Fill in around the plant with a mixture of the existing soil and some better soil or compost, firming the soil with your heel.
• Make an embankment of soil around the plant to hold at least a bucket of water. This eliminates any air pockets in the soil.
• Mulch around the plant, keeping back from the actual trunk/stem. Apply a bucket of water with a seaweed nutrient once a week for the first few weeks.
• Finally, when planting a hedge, always dig a trench rather than individual holes. The roots will spread sideways with faster growth.

One easy way to make leafmould is to construct a round or square cage of chicken wire, at least one metre across and held in place with tomato stakes.

Alternatively, bag up and moisten leaves in black plastic bags. Then loosely tie the bag and make a few holes in it. Store out of the way in the garden and keep until the following autumn. By then, you will have leafmould, which the plants will love.

For a more permanent compost bin, make it out of recycled forklift pallets as I have, as pictured here.

Jottings…

• Cyclamen bought as an indoor plant can be planted out in a semi-shady spot in the garden (once flowering has finished), where it will multiply and continue to flower for many years.
• Prune climbing roses.
• Plant garlic by splitting the individual cloves and plant about 5cm-10cm deep, spaced about 15cm-18cm apart, enriched with well-rotted garden organic matter.
• Harvest the last of the pumpkins and squash. “Cure” them in a warm room for 10 days. Fill the opposite end to the stalk with paraffin wax to keep air out.