October gardening guide
Autumn is in full swing and with it comes a beautiful spectrum of colour. Autumn perennials add their rich hues to the borders, along with the dainty, starry flowers of late clematis varieties. Winter flowering shrubs are stirred into action and many berries are hanging onto branches long after the leaves have coloured and fallen. Hazelnuts and acorns are ripening, bringing foraging squirrels and jays to the garden looking for food. Days are getting colder and shorter but there is still a lot of planting to be done in October before winter sets in.
Checklist
- Clean down your patio and garden furniture and cover or store them away if you think they won't get used again
- Aerate the lawn to improve drainage and brush sharp sand into the holes
- If you wish to move a shrub or conifer to another part of the garden, dig up as large a root ball as possible and water in well
- Plant out autumn onion sets in to firm beds of soil. Garlic can also be planted towards the end of the month
- Complete winter digging on heavy soils by the end of October
- Plant out spring cabbages
- Plant winter flowering pansies and violas in beds and pots for spots of winter colour
- Wrap up tender plants like tree ferns and banana plants with fleece or straw before the first frosts of the year
- When raking, leave some leaf piles under a hedge or in a border, to provide a habitat for wildlife and insects
- Finish pruning and training rambling roses by cutting out some of the old wood that has flowered and tying in young shoots
Top Tips
Rake leaves from the lawn regularly as the grass will turn yellow and may die if leaves are left lying.