Autumn begins today but there’s still time to sow | Allan Jenkins

As a gardener’s work slows, plant a few autumn leaves and herbs

1 September. The start of meteorological autumn. Another two hours of daylight lost in the next few weeks. Gardeners have seen it for some time. Seeds that raced to leaf and flower just weeks ago are sluggish now. All has noticeably slowed. Still time, though, to sow the last of the autumn leaves, mustards and mizunas, komatsuna, and spinach for spring. To sow, too, hardy lettuces, radishes, rocket, land cress. Plant garlic and autumn onion sets – we will, after some resistance, for want of watching something slowly grow. But first wait for the coming cooler weather. Even with an Indian summer, frost is possible sometime this month especially outside the south.

So tidy and weed, take care of the compost and fork it over, water it if it’s dry. Harvest the last of the potatoes. Untie lingering tomato plants, remove lower leaves and lay flat. You may soon need to strip the last green toms to colour them on a windowsill, bag them with a banana.

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'So much more than growing food': readers on the joy of an allotment

Allotments deliver more than just a physical harvest of flowers, fruit or veg. They create true communities

To celebrate this year’s National Allotments Week, we asked you to share pictures and stories of the bounty from your precious plots, many of which are run by local councils.

Related: Flowers, friendship and food bank donations: readers' allotments – in pictures

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Front doors: the key looks

How does your home make an entrance? Here’s our guide to creating the perfect portal – without letting the neighbours down

I am ashamed of my front door – a putrid purple reproduction affair, the house numbers two timid little digits from B&Q. It is only now that the front door has become such a lifestyle statement that I have dared to ask why.

Your front door needs to sing to your soul and say something about you to your visitors

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Front doors: the key looks

How does your home make an entrance? Here’s our guide to creating the perfect portal – without letting the neighbours down

I am ashamed of my front door – a putrid purple reproduction affair, the house numbers two timid little digits from B&Q. It is only now that the front door has become such a lifestyle statement that I have dared to ask why.

Your front door needs to sing to your soul and say something about you to your visitors

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Homes: 'We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball'

Design aficionado Thorsten van Elten has turned a 70s bungalow in East Sussex into a playful home

Three days before Christmas, in 2015, Thorsten van Elten and his partner Karl swapped central London for rural East Sussex. “I was fully ready for a change,” says the German-born design retailer, who had lived in the West End for 20 years, after he moved to England to study interior design. “Karl’s family arrived for the holidays on 24 December, so it felt immediately like home.”

When the pair began looking to buy in the countryside, Van Elten knew a beamed cottage wasn’t going to work – he is more than 6ft tall. “We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days trying not to bump my head.”

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How to grow winter salad | Alys Fowler

Our gardening expert looks at rocket, mustards and oriental salad leaves in the second of a two-part special (read the first part here)

I think winter salads need a little heat to them; a few leaves that pepper the cooler greens and don’t mind being rested on by hot things, be that roasted vegetables or grilled cheese. For this you need the spicy salads from the brassica family, such as rocket, mizuna, and the many mustard leaves.

Rocket, as its name suggests, is up before the rest and races to grow, giving you substantial salads by autumn, slowly increasing in spiciness as the weather darkens. If its peppery heat is too much, try Real Seed’s ‘Mild’ rocket, which is sweet rather than fiery. By winter, cultivated rocket will have stopped growing unless it’s in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Not so for wild rocket, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, which is smaller-leaved, spicier and hardier. I love it on top of pizza.

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Gardening tips: build a stumpery

Then make a bold statement with Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ and watch a new series of DIY video tutorials

Plant this The large, silvery leaves of Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ make a bold statement in a container in full sun. It’s hardy down to -5C but won’t like cold, wet conditions, so offer protection in winter, if necessary, or bring it inside as it also makes a great houseplant. Height and spread: 35cm x 35cm.

Try this Shady spots under trees can be tricky, but a stumpery transforms a dank corner into a cool verdant retreat. Improve the soil with leaf mould or compost, then arrange hardwood logs and stumps, planting ferns, hostas and spring bulbs such as snowdrops in the gaps between.

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