What to plant in Dubai in autumn

Dubai residents rarely say autumn; they say the weather has broken. It happens in October, when the average high falls to 35.9°C, and by November it is a comfortable 30.7°C with nights near 21°C. For gardeners it is the starting gun. October is the busiest planting month of the year, and Dubai Municipality's early-winter planting phase, which runs from September to December, is under way across the city's parks and roadsides.

Almost everything goes in now. Trees, palms, shrubs, climbers and groundcovers get a full cool season to root before the next summer. Natural lawns are patched, renovated and overseeded. Winter bedding such as Petunia, Marigold and Vinca goes in for colour from December, and the winter vegetable garden begins: broccoli, cabbage, root crops and herbs in October, with lettuce, spinach and other heat-sensitive crops in November once nights cool.

Buy the best plants you can afford and plant them well: a hole twice the width of the rootball, planted at the same depth as the pot, and watered in. Then ease irrigation back as the days cool, mulch, and feed as growth picks up. Two cautions: a late hot spell can still scorch new transplants, so keep shade cloth to hand through October, and sow heat-sensitive vegetables only when nights ease. The national Plant the Emirates programme, run by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, encourages households to plant and grow food at home; autumn is when that is easiest.