Start by Clearing Spent Crops

Autumn's first job is one of gentle dismantling. Tomatoes, courgettes, climbing beans and sweetcorn have all done their bit by now, and leaving them to slump in the wet only invites slugs, mildew and overwintering pests. Lift or cut them down, shake soil from the roots and add healthy material to the compost heap.

Be selective about what you compost. Anything carrying blight, rust, clubroot or grey mould is best burned, binned or put out with the council waste rather than returned to the plot. If in doubt, keep it out.

• Cut runner and climbing bean stems at ground level and leave the roots in place — the nitrogen nodules will break down and feed whatever follows.
• Pull up spent brassicas, including stalks and roots, and firm the ground afterwards.
• Clear tomato and cucumber plants from the greenhouse, then sweep down the floor and staging.
• Remove any fruit still clinging to trees and bushes — it feeds wasps and harbours next year's codling moth.

A tidy plot isn't just about looks. Every spent crop cleared now is one less hiding place for slugs and one less source of disease when growth starts again in spring.

Feed the Soil with Mulch

Bare soil over winter is wasted soil. Heavy rain leaches nutrients and batters the surface into a crust, while weeds quietly stake their claim. A generous layer of well-rotted manure, homemade compost or leafmould — 5cm to 8cm deep — keeps the worms working and the structure open.

Spread it over empty beds and let the worms pull it down; there's no need to dig it in. Leave a small gap around the stems of soft fruit bushes, rhododendrons and perennials so the mulch doesn't sit wet against the bark. On heavy clay, a thin layer of sharp grit over the top helps the surface drain.

While you're at it, gather fallen leaves. Packed into bin bags with a few holes punched in them and left behind the shed, they'll be crumbly leafmould by this time next year — one of the best free soil conditioners you'll ever get.

Sow, Plant and Overwinter

Garlic is the classic autumn planting, and with good reason. Cloves planted now, pointed end up, 2cm to 3cm deep and 15cm apart, get a cold spell that helps them split into proper bulbs rather than one solid round. 'Solent Wight', 'Cristo' and 'Music' all do well in British conditions. Choose a sunny, free-draining spot and don't plant where onions or leeks grew this year.

Alongside the garlic you can put in overwintering onion sets such as 'Radar' or 'Electric', and broad beans like 'Aquadulce Claudia' from late October onwards. A November sowing of broad beans usually crops earlier than a spring one, provided the ground isn't waterlogged.

Any bed left empty can be sown with a green manure rather than left bare:

• Field beans or winter tares for nitrogen and bulky tops to dig in during spring.
• Grazing rye for a deep, fibrous root system that opens up heavy soil.
• Phacelia if you sow early enough for it to establish, as it smothers weeds beautifully.

Aim to get green manures sown by the end of September while the soil is still warm.

Repair Fences, Gates and Structures

Cold weather makes timber brittle and fingers clumsy, so mend fences now rather than in January. Walk the boundary with a pair of gloves and a notebook, and note every slack wire, rotten post and sagging gate.

• Re-strain stock netting and fence wires, replacing broken staples with galvanised ones.
• Treat bare timber on gates, raised bed boards and shed doors with a water-based preservative on a dry day.
• Oil gate hinges and latches, and check that gates swing clear of the ground before it freezes solid.
• Clear gutters on sheds, greenhouses and outbuildings, and check water butts are sealed and raised off the ground.
• Replace cracked panes and patch fruit cage netting before the first gale finds the weak spots.

If you keep poultry or small livestock, this is also the moment to check feed stores are genuinely rat-proof and that shelters face away from the prevailing wind.

Tend Fruit, Hedges and Livestock Ground

Once the leaves have fallen, apples, pears, quince and medlar can be pruned — take out dead, crossing and congested growth to keep an open goblet shape. Leave plums, cherries and other stone fruits well alone until midsummer, as pruning them now risks silver leaf infection through the wounds.

Fit grease bands around apple and plum trunks in late October to catch wingless winter moths climbing to lay eggs. If you keep birds, leave berrying hedges such as hawthorn and holly uncut until late winter so there's food through the hardest weeks — and always check for nests before you start the hedge trimmer.

Move poultry onto well-drained, sheltered ground and build up deep litter so they have somewhere dry to scratch. Check drinkers twice daily once frosts begin.

Protect, Store and Make Ready

Lift maincrop potatoes before slug damage worsens, let them dry somewhere airy for a few hours, then store in paper sacks in a dark, frost-free shed. Cure winter squash and pumpkins in a warm room for a fortnight before moving them somewhere cool.

In the greenhouse, wash the glass inside and out to let in every bit of low winter light, then line the sides with bubble wrap. Ventilate on mild days to keep damp and mould at bay. Bring tender perennials under cover, take hardwood cuttings, and drain outdoor taps before the first hard frost.

Finally, treat yourself to a wet afternoon indoors: sharpen and oil your tools, clean the spades, and plan next year's rotation. Autumn work is quiet work, but it's the reason next summer looks easy.