Gardening

Edition Nineteen - October 2007

October can be a wonderful month, with the colourful tones of red, yellow and orange autumn leaves as they drop, and cooler invigorating days. Not forgetting stunning sunrises and sunsets.  

I love our garden in the autumn and winter with its evergreen shrubs, brightly coloured berries and colourful dogwood bark.

It is a very busy time in the garden this month, tidying up for the autumn and planting winter bedding plants... There are some superb bulbs now in the garden centres and this is the time to plant them. Tulips can be left until December at the latest.. 

For winter cheer, make up some hanging baskets with winter flowering plants, bulbs and trailing ivies, which will brighten the front of your house over the next few months..

I bought a jar of honey with honeycomb last month from our nearby farm shop, and was surprised to see from the label that it comes from about a mile away from our home... It is especially nice somehow, and I have heard that if you eat honey from local bees it will help ease any pollen allergies you may have..  Fancy becoming a beekeeper?

Jobs for the month  - October

House plants

Reduce watering again this month. Don't apply any plant feed now, until the spring. Ensure your houseplants haven't got any pests such as mealy bug and check that the chosen places to over winter them are not draughty or too near a radiator. It might help to increase humidity by putting dishes of water in the heated rooms.

Lawns

If it needs cutting you can still mow your lawn lightly. This is still a good month for applying Weed and Feed. Sweep leaves off the lawn rather than leaving them over winter, which isn't good for the grass.

Herbaceous borders

Continue as for last month, dead-heading, weeding and hoeing to keep the borders looking neat.  October is a good month for moving plants and shrubs that you might have previously planted in the wrong spot.. Cut down perennial plants that have finished flowering. Plant Wallflowers, Sweet William, Cyclamen, Dianthus and winter flowering Pansies, for winter greenery and spring colour.

Vegetables

This is the month when it is possible to have an early frost, so keep a weather eye open and enjoy the last harvest of your summer crops by harvesting them in time. It's probably a good time to do some tidying up and late digging. Add a top dressing of compost or manure to prepare the beds for spring. You could sow a winter crop of Broad Beans and winter Lettuce ready for late spring harvesting. Transplant your Spring Cabbage to harvest early May. It's also time to plant some Onion Sets and Garlic to harvest June/July next year. Continue to harvest Beans, Beetroot, Carrots, Calabrese, Turnips and  Sweetcorn.
 

Ponds

Stop feeding fish if the weather is very cold and they have slowed down. Cover your pond with mesh or netting to stop leaves falling into the pond..

Wildlife

Mammals such as bats and rodents will soon be preparing for hibernation. Some species such as the badger which do not hibernate will be fattening themselves up for the lean months ahead. Around mid-October toads go into hibernation, finding logs or stones to hide beneath until Spring arrives once more. Frogs also hibernate at this time, at the bottom of ponds or some other sheltered place, ready to emerge again in the following January