Autumn is a very pleasant time to garden, quieter now that summer growth has finished. The lowering light evenly and perfectly silhouettes trees and grasses as they deck themselves in their autumn finery of red and gold, russet, amber and crimson.

The light is intense, but much softer and more forgiving than the crystal sharp light of spring, or the bleached-out one- dimensional quality of the midsummer sun.

In our climate, nature starts paring our gardens back in autumn, even those gardens confined to containers, and suddenly new, empty spaces full of planting possibilities appear, at the optimum time for renewal.

Autumn is the beginning of the gardening year, not the end. If you look closely, you will see that there are new buds on lots of things.

In the past, the great rush to get things planted in autumn was partly because they arrived from the nursery bare-rooted.

Now most things are containerised and can, in theory, go into the ground at any time. But in truth, autumn planting, when the ground is still warm but there's moisture, gives most things a head start.

By the time winter wet and cold puts a halt to their gallop, they will have a firm foothold in the earth.

Autumn is also the optimum time to source the greatest array of good, Irishgrown plants, which have been tested in the field and therefore suit the vagaries of our climate.

Time to. . . plant daffodils:

Odd as it might sound, the month of July is actually the optimum time to begin planting different kinds of daffodils, also known as Narcissus as that's the time many of them start into growth. The earlier you plant them, the better they'll succeed. The same goes for lilies, cormous subjects such as crocus and cyclamen, and bulbous irises, which should be your next concern.

Tulips can be left until much later in the autumn, actually until early winter, if needs must.

Daffodils and all other bulbs should be planted in fairly rich, well-worked soil that preferably hasn't had any animal manure added recently, or at least this year.

Snowdrops in particular dislike animal dung.

A bed of sand to help with drainage and prevent basal rotting, plus a dusting of an organic, slow-release fertiliser, such as dried seaweed or blood, fish and bonemeal if you can get it, will help all bulbs on their merry way.

Planting depths for bulbs vary not only with the size and type of bulb, but also with your soil type. A good general rule is to plant deeper on light ground than you would on heavy clay.

Use a trowel, a spade or a special bulb planter, rather than a dibber. The latter tends to make a hole ending in a pointed vacuum, where no questing rootlets can gain purchase but, instead, are doomed to dangle aimlessly in a void, where they could easily die from lack of contact with the surrounding soil.

Quick-fix bamboo A dull, dark and dreary corner in a small garden or yard can be instantly improved beyond measure by placing a big, beautiful pot there and planting it up with a tall, rustling bamboo, one that has particularly good-looking caulms (as bamboo stems are known).

A rich, bright yellowstemmed variety that would shine out in such a dark place is Phyllostachys aureoculcata 'Aureocaulis'.

It would have to be watered and fed regularly, will outgrow its pot in a few years and will, in time, reach 23ft in height, but it will be worth it for the grace and beauty it'll bring to an otherwise depressing space.

If you want to keep it there in the pot indefinitely, it will need to be divided every second year or so, to remain healthy. Alternatively, you can plant the bamboo out and let it have free rein in an open garden somewhere, perhaps in your next house.

GARDEN WORK

>> Clipped box and yew, particularly hedges, balls and other geometric shapes, look great in bare midwinter. You just have time to give them . . . and bay and holly specimens . . . their "nal trim of the year. If you leave it any later, any new growth made before winter sets in will still be very soft, and therefore easily knocked back by an early frost.

>> Lavenders too need a light shearing after they've "nished "owering. This will keep the plants nice and bushy for another year, rather than leggy and sprawling, which is what happens to unclipped lavenders. Late next spring, they can be clipped again, to further shape them.

>> If there is "ailing, whippy growth on roses and other wall shrubs then you should remove it, or tie it in to supports, before the high winds of early autumn arrive to whip it dangerously around the place, where it can catch people as they pass by.

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