Blue Diamond

October Hints & Tips

October can be a glorious month in the garden, with clear blue skies and crisp days.  Everywhere you look, the autumn leaves are a blaze of rich warm reds, oranges and yellows, a last extravagant explosion of colour before winter arrives. The days are getting shorter, so make the most of good gardening weather whenever you get the chance this month. Wrap up warm, get outdoors and enjoy your garden’s autumn display this year.

 

Things to do this month 
  • Remove blinds and shade paint from greenhouses so that overwintering plants get as much light as possible.
  • Clean and disinfect greenhouses.
  • Clean and disinfect greenhouses.
  • Tidy up beds and borders, clearing away dead and dying leaves.
  • Rake up fallen leaves and collect them to make leafmould
  • Net ponds to stop leaves falling in.
  • Clear ponds of excess pond weed and blanket weed.
  • Put pots on pot feet to avoid them getting waterlogged in winter.
  • Put up a bird feeder to support your garden birds through the winter months.
  • Take cuttings from deciduous shrubs.
  • Prune climbing roses once they have finished flowering.
  • Cut tall bush roses back by a third to avoid windrock.
  • Clear up fallen rose leaves and dispose of them to stop the spread of black spot.
  • Clean garden furniture before you store it away for the winter.
  • Give the barbecue a thorough cleaning before putting it away for the winter.
  • Feed wild birds with high-energy bird foods to help them through the autumn and winter.
  • When water temperatures drop below 21°C (70F), feed fish with easier-to-digest, wheat germ foods.
  • Give tools a thorough clean before you put them away for winter.
  • Slugs and snails may become more active in cooler, damper weather – so protect plants with suitable controls.
  • As perennial weeds start to die back, this is a good time to give them a final application of weedkiller.
What vegetables to plant in October

What vegetables to plant in October

Although October is mainly a month for harvesting, once you’ve cleared the beds of the last of the summer crops, it’s also time to plant for winter and spring crops. Some winter-hardy seeds can still be sown outdoors, while others are best under glass or in a cold greenhouse. Here’s a list of vegetables to sow and plant in October:

Sow under cloches or in a greenhouse for winter crops:

Winter lettuce
Pak choi
Mizuna

Sow outdoors for spring crops:

Pea ‘Meteor’ and ‘Pilot’
Broad bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ and ‘Imperial Green Longpod’

Plant out:

Autumn onion sets e.g. Onion ‘Radar’ and ‘Electric Red’
Garlic
Spring cabbages
Asparagus crowns

What Vegetables to harvest in October

What Vegetables to harvest in October

Most vegetables are almost finished producing crops by now, so make the most of this final harvest. These vegetables should be ready to harvest in October:

  • Peas
  • Runner beans
  • French beans
  • Pumpkins
  • Squash
  • Autumn cabbages
  • Tomatoes (ripe and unripe)
  • Peppers 
  • Broccoli
  • Leeks
  • Beetroot

Lawn maintenance in October

October is an important time for autumn lawn maintenance, especially in colder areas of the country where this month may be the last opportunity to give your lawn some care before winter sets in. Scarifying, aerating and feeding your lawn will result in strong, healthy turf with fewer weeds next year.

  • Rake up fallen leaves regularly so that the autumn sunlight can reach the grass. Collect the leaves into a pile or put them in bags and leave them somewhere out of sight, and in a year or so they will decompose into leaf mould, an excellent soil conditioner.
  • Mow the lawn less frequently and on a higher blade setting. In cold areas of the country October may be your last mowing month until spring, but in milder areas you may still need to mow occasionally through winter to keep it looking tidy.
  • Scarify the lawn to get rid of moss and thatch (dead grass). You can either do this by raking vigorously with a spring tine rake or use a mechanical lawn scarifier.
  • Aerate the lawn to reduce compaction and improve drainage. For small lawns, this can be done manually by spiking holes at regular intervals in the lawn with a garden fork or hollow tine aerator. For large lawns, use a mechanical lawn aerator.
  • Give your lawn an autumn feed. Autumn lawn fertilizers are specifically formulated to be low in nitrogen, so they won’t encourage a sudden spurt of lush growth that would be damaged by winter frosts, and some contain a moss killer as well.