There is one thing anyone planting something this autumn has to check before picking up a spade - and it is not at the market and not at the nursery. The temperature. Autumn is ideal for planting precisely because the air cools without freezing, but only if the summer heat has genuinely let go. If it has not, everything planted is simply waiting.

Once that condition is met, a broad list opens up: shrubs, climbers, trees, bulbs, annuals and perennials. Shrubs planted now will flower well in spring, because they have the whole winter to root properly. That is a logic worth remembering - autumn planting is not for autumn, it is for the spring that follows.

Bulbs are planted only now

Bulbous plants produce flowers of great beauty, and for them there is no second window. They are planted only in autumn so they explode into colour in spring. The safest choices are the tulip, the daffodil and the hyacinth. The tulip needs autumn or even winter planting because cold triggers its flowering, which starts in early spring. The daffodil is among the hardier and more decorative options, while the hyacinth produces spiked blooms in vivid colours with a strong scent.

The planting rules are short. Choose a sunny spot with good drainage and no standing water - excess water rots bulbs. Plant them around 15 centimetres deep, tip upwards, with at least 10 centimetres between them. It is best to plant them in small irregular groups, never in a perfect row. After planting, water well but without soaking the ground.

Annuals bring the colour and bring the bees

Annuals are fast growers: they flower in their first spring or summer, produce seed and die at the end of the season. That sounds like a drawback, but it is actually why they are used to create flower beds with a wild look - there is an enormous choice of colours, sizes and flower shapes. And one more thing that rarely gets mentioned: they attract pollinators, which means a bed is also a help to biodiversity, not just decoration.

Among those easiest to grow from seed are calendula (Calendula officinalis), with flowers like large daisies in orange or yellow tones that bloom from summer into late autumn; larkspur (Consolida), with flowers arranged in spikes in pink, blue or white; flax (Linum grandiflorum), with pink flowers and a dark centre; and the field poppy (Papaver commutatum), with red flowers marked by black spots in the middle of the petals.

Direct sowing: the simplest method

The most direct approach is to put the seed straight into the ground - either scattered across the plot or arranged in rows. In both cases the first step is preparing the ground: remove every trace of weeds, mark out where each plant will go according to height, shape or flower colour, and only then scatter the seed and cover it with soil. Finally, water generously.

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is a good example of how to work with annuals. A climber that develops easily from seed and grows fast, flowering in summer with large, strongly scented blooms in blue, pink, red and white. If it is planted now, in autumn, and placed near where you sit in the garden, summer brings both the colour and the scent to where there is somebody to notice them.

The procedure is simple and applies to any other annual. The seed can go straight into the ground or into pots with a special seed substrate. First soak it for 24 hours. Then place three or four seeds in each container and cover them with a thin layer of substrate. The containers go somewhere with a little sunlight, and the substrate is kept moist. When the seedlings reach around 10 centimetres, transplant them.

Trees and shrubs - October is the month

For perennials, the right period runs from late September into October. Dig a hole deep and wide enough, set the roots in leaving the base of the trunk above the hole, return the soil and firm it around the trunk. Then water generously and add a layer of mulch - organic matter such as compost - which holds moisture and keeps weeds down.

October is also the ideal month for planting or transplanting trees, shrubs and woody species such as rose bushes, and for establishing hedges. Spread the roots out and trim them back, and soaking them for around 20 minutes before planting is advisable. The hole must not be deeper than the roots themselves, but it should be three times wider than the whole root system. The roots must not be buried too deep - then air does not pass through the soil to reach them and the plant becomes more prone to disease.

The most common mistake is water, not soil

The problem with freshly planted plants is almost never the variety or the soil. Most often it is insufficient water. Once a tree or a shrub enters what is called water stress, the damage is already done - and noticing it comes later. The key is to anticipate the shortage rather than react after it.

An effective alternative is drip irrigation, which automates the task and gives better control. But there is a flip side here too: overwatering rots the roots. And that is the whole skill of autumn planting - not work done with great effort, but with measure. The ground is not asking to be beaten; it is only asking you not to overdo it.