There's a version of this afternoon where you look at plants for twenty minutes and sit in the café for an hour. It's a perfectly respectable way to spend it. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #ScotsdalesCafe #Lifestyle #AutumnVibes

Need to move a shrub? Autumn is the window. Water it well the day before, dig a trench wide of the roots, keep as much soil on the rootball as you can, and replant at the same depth. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #GardenTips #AutumnGarden #Gardening

Roots keep growing long after the top of the plant stops. That's why something planted now is already established by the time spring arrives. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #AutumnPlanting #Gardening #GardenTips

A good cut is angled away from the bud, just above it, and clean enough that water runs off rather than sitting on the wound. Small details, noticeably better plants. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #Pruning #GardenAdvice #Gardening

Match the tool to the stem. Secateurs up to pencil-thick, loppers up to about an inch, pruning saw beyond that. Forcing secateurs through thick wood ruins the blade and the plant. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #Pruning #GardenTools #GardenTips

The autumn equinox lands this week. Day and night level, and from here the evenings shorten properly. A good moment to look at the garden and decide what it needs. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #AutumnEquinox #AutumnGarden #Nature

Every leaf you leave on the ground is somewhere for something to spend the winter. The tidiest garden on the street is usually the emptiest one. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #WildlifeGarden #GardenWildlife #Nature

Greenhouse jobs before the cold: wash the glass inside and out for maximum winter light, sweep out debris where pests overwinter, and check the vents still close properly. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #Greenhouse #GardenJobs #GardenTips

The garden isn't winding down, it's changing hands. Grasses, seedheads, berries and turning leaves take over from flowers, and plenty of gardens look better for it. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #AutumnGarden #GardenInspiration #Gardening

Terracotta pots crack in winter because water gets in and freezes. Raise them onto feet, move the vulnerable ones under cover, and empty anything you're not planting. Do it now, not in December. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #GardenTips #Containers #AutumnGarden

Beyond summer bedding there's a whole cast of autumn plants nobody thinks to buy: grasses, Heuchera, late Sedum, Aster. Texture and colour right through to the frosts. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #AutumnGarden #Perennials #GardenInspiration

One minute, first thing. The garden sounds different now: fewer birds, more rustle, wind in the grasses instead of bees in the borders. Go and listen to it change. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #OneMinuteWalk #TakeAMoment

September Saturdays are the ones to come for. Everything's in stock for autumn, the summer rush has gone, and you can take as long as you like deciding. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #GardenLife #WeekendMornings #Gardening

Take hardwood cuttings now and they cost nothing. Pencil-thick stems, about nine inches, flat cut at the base, angled at the top. Push two-thirds into gritty soil and wait until spring. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #Cuttings #GardenTips #Propagation

Autumn planting weekend. Warm soil, cooler air, rain doing the watering for you. There isn't a better fortnight in the year for getting things into the ground. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #AutumnPlanting #Gardening #GardenTips

The weekend cooking has changed shape. Slower, warmer, longer in the oven. Our Hambletons counter and the foodhall have both moved with it. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #Hambletons #Foodhall #LocalFood

Don't bin the leaves. Pack them damp into a bin bag, pierce a few holes, tie it loosely and forget it for a year. You'll have the best soil improver in the garden, free. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #LeafMould #GardenTips #Composting

That difficult shady corner isn't a problem to solve. It's the one place in your garden where ferns will do something nothing in full sun can manage. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #HardyFerns #ShadeGarden #LookBeyondTheFlowers

Mid-September and the café has quietly turned a corner. Warmer things, heavier cake, and rather more people staying for a second cup than they intended to. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #ScotsdalesCafe #AutumnVibes #Coffee

Look after your secateurs and they'll outlive you. Wipe the blades after every use, sharpen the bevelled edge only, oil the pivot, and never leave them in wet grass overnight. #ScotsdalesGardenCentre #Cambridge #GardenTools #GardenTips #Pruning