Daylight saving has finished and, as if in sympathy, the weather has responded with frequent showers and cooler days, to add to the misery of shorter evenings.
However it's not all doom and gloom, as winter's approach provides the green thumbed amongst us with a challenge to maintain healthy gardens, irrespective of seasonal change.
With this challenge comes the need to re-evaluate factors such as temperature, pests, soil preparation and, particularly importantly, which varieties should be planted at this time of year to get the best from your garden.
"Planting for the season is one of the easiest ways to get the best results from your garden year round," says Awapuni Nurseries director, Henri Ham.
"It takes a little effort - and a little foresight - but the results certainly make it worthwhile."
Henri says this time of year is often considered optimal for New Zealand gardens because the plants that suit this season are more robust than their fragile spring counterparts. Plus there is usually a good balance of rain and sunshine, and, hopefully, less wind!
Awapuni's Pop'n'Grow range has several varieties that are perfect for autumn planting. These include annuals such as antirrhinum madame butterfly, polyanthus, pansies, primulas and sweet peas. Tall growing sweet pea varieties need a support, but a fence that faces the sun does the job nicely.
Autumnal vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, silverbeet and spinach. And to provide for those ever necessary garden herbs, think about chives, dill, oregano, rocket, thyme, and varieties of parsley.
Pop'n'Grow is a revolutionary new seedling range that is simple to plant and quite literally guaranteed to grow. The range includes over 120 different perennials, herbs, flowers and vegetables, and special kids' fun pack products.
Unlike other plants, their unique nursery process, and the innovative and biodegradable packaging means the plants can be unwrapped, separated and prepared for the soil without disturbing or breaking the roots. They are available from supermarkets, The Warehouse, Kmart and Bunnings stores.
However, before you rush out, credit card in hand, to the plant shop, Henri has a warning for the over-enthusiastic gardeners among you.
"Soil cultivation plays a big part in preparing a garden for seasonal change and for accepting new varieties. So unless you spend a little time on that aspect of your garden you could be letting yourself down.
"The autumn is an excellent time to prepare new beds before it's too wet to make them. And don't forget to get in plenty of compost and fertiliser, which will give your plants the best opportunities to grow."
As to others things to watch for, Henri suggests countering frost and alleviating plant growth by laying plastic over hoops in your garden. Most plants wont need this treatment, however if you want to keep your lettuces and tender herbs growing this is a good idea.
In addition to this, bugs and pests are everywhere at this time of year. Two of the more common ones are white fly and aphids. They suck the sap from plants, thereby damaging and weakening them, and they transmit disease from one plant to another.
They are not difficult to control. That old adage about prevention being better than cure certainly applies in this instance. An application of neem oil (Neem 900ec) can really help. The oil smothers the adult insects while the active ingredient in the neem disrupts the juvenile's growth and reproduction.
"It's a constant round of preparing, planting, tending and de-bugging, but by following some simple rules, especially in terms of planting appropriately for the season, your garden will really flourish at this time of year," Henri says.
