Peter Dowdall: Putting your garden to bed for autumn and winter

It's time to consider what to cut back and what to leave

The temptation can be to tidy everything and leave the garden looking bare and orderly, but some restraint will pay dividends.

I really think that we are more connected to the natural world and the changing seasons than we realise.

In springtime, as the dormant buds begin to burst and new growth pushes up from beneath the soil, a switch goes off in each of us that makes us yearn for the outdoors. We want to be outside again after so much time indoors during winter. The lengthening evenings and increasing warmth at that time of year nearly force us out into the garden.