October

As winter is well on its way and the dark nights are drawing in there are still many jobs that can be done around the garden. 

Make the most of any dry days to paint fences and sheds before the rain sets in.

If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, October is the ideal time to give it a good clean out of old leaves, compost and pots and disinfect all the surfaces to prevent pests and diseases spreading over winter. Replace the insulation and check your heater if you are planning on overwintering any tender plants.

Lawn care

Looking after your lawn in October should include removing fallen leaves and maybe giving the grass a final cut before winter. It is also a good time to reseed any area that has become damaged or worn by mixing some grass seed with compost. In October there is still enough warmth in the soil to allow germination and rain will help with the watering.

October is also an ideal time to aerate your lawn too, you can do this simply by using a fork to make holes in your lawn10-15cm deep. Doing this will reduce water logging and help prevent soil compaction and the spread of disease.

Straighten up the edges of the lawn with an edging iron before the winter sets in and doing it now means that it will remain tidy until spring.

The flower garden

Lift Dahlia tubers and Begonia corms to store over the winter, find a cool dark frost free place to let them dry out to prevent disease. Remove any dead leaves and check for pests prior to storing.

You can take hardwood cuttings in October from shrubs such as Salix, Cornus, Continus, Rosa and Forsythia making sure you use a clean sharp knife. Once you have selected good material use a rooting powder before putting the cuttings in a 50/50 perlite and compost mix to encourage root growth.

Prune climbing roses when they finish flowering and tie up any loose stems that could be damaged by the wind. Clear any fallen leaves from your roses to help prevent blackspot. If your roses already have blackspot don’t compost the leaves, remove them from the site as the spores can live among the rotting leaves that are left and can pass the infection on.

Cut back and clear any perennial plants that have died down, after weeding and tidying the garden borders and beds use mulch such as bark chippings or well rotted manure to protect the plant roots over the winter and suppress weeds.

Vegetables

Finish harvesting any remaining peas and beans and simply cut the plant away at ground level. Leaving the roots in the soil will give back nutrients as they break down. If you intend to plant more beans and peas next year you can start to prep the area now by digging out a trench and filling it with well rotted manure.

Harvest any pumpkins before the frost hits as they can quickly turn to mush if left outside. If you have Rhubarb this is the ideal time to split any congested clumps with a spade and replant the healthiest looking pieces.

September tips

New students arrive and our previous year students return and once again Campus will come alive with sound and colour.

Touches of gold start to appear this month as Autumn creeps in, and as always there are tasks to be getting on with..

Before the ground gets cold consider planting bulbs ready for the Spring. There are so many to choose from now alongside traditional Crocus, Daffodils, Hyacinths and Bluebells. Spring flowering bulbs are an essential part of creating a healthy ecosystem, so the longer the flowering period the better.

Divide your favourite herbaceous perennials as the weather cools. If you get the chance to take some photographs this will help you with other planting once the plants have died down and are dormant. Some of the plants will now be at there best, Dahlia and Crocosmia among others. But seasonal plants including summer bedding plants will be finishing and past their best. September is the ideal time to clear out the bedding from the planters and pots and replace them with winter bedding plants. 

There are a wide variety of plants to choose from including the more traditional such as Primrose or pansies but if you are fancying something a bit different why not try some ornamental cabbage as feature plants that turn pink in the colder months.

Fruit and Veg 

The apples and pears should be ripening and ready for you to pick, tidy up fallen apples to prevent them attracting wasps.

If there are too many apples for you to use, store them in a cool dark place.

Pick any remaining Raspberries and Blackberries. If you have too many to use up you can freeze them to use at a later date or maybe take a few out at a time through winter and leave them in the garden for wildlife along with an apple or too. 

If you still have tomato's on the plants that are green, pick them and take them indoors to ripen. If you put the tomato's in a draw next to a ripe banana the chemicals from the banana will encourage the fruit to ripen or you could use them to make a green chutney. 

September is the ideal time to plant the hardy varieties of broad beans and peas but be sure to protect them from mice with a fine grade chicken wire. You can also sow some spring cabbage, spinach, onions and garlic for early harvest in the spring.