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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
Index to previous editions of Age-Net gardening column here
Tickets for RHS members
Privilege rate tickets are available for RHS members to all RHS shows,
but tickets must be booked in advance. Click on the individual show links
below for further information.
RHS members are not charged a booking fee for tickets purchased except
for advanced tickets to the Malvern shows. To
find out how to become an RHS member click here
****************************
Some web sites of interest to gardeners:
The living theatre of plants
and people
The Eden Project is a gateway into the world of plants and people.
A meeting place for all to discover how we depend on plants and how we
can help to manage and conserve them for our mutual survival.
Gardening
is an important part of many people's lives. You don't have to give up
gardening because of accident or illness, the onset of disability or the
problems associated with growing older. The information on their website
is designed to provide you with the information to Carry on Gardening.
Carry on Gardening was initiated by the horticultural charity Thrive
and is funded by the National
Lottery Charities Board. It brings together information
on easy ways of gardening gathered over 23 years by Thrive and research
carried out since the early 1970s by Mary Marlborough Centre, Oxford,
on tools and equipment for disabled and older people.
www.alantitchmarsh.com Alan Titchmarsh MBE, TV gardener, writer, broadcaster and
thoroughly nice person. Just a few choice words to describe the peoples`
favourite TV gardener. See his website....
Thompson
and Morgan
A growing resource for gardeners worldwide. The site includes
the international online seed catalogues, the young plants catalogue (UK
only), the wholesale seeds catalogue, together with the award winning
Germination Times and a host of other useful information.
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And some reading material:-
"The Yellow Book 2006" contains information of all Gardens of England
and Wales open for charity, from National Gardens Scheme and is available
from all good bookstores throughout the UK priced £7.99. http://www.ngs.org.uk/yellow_book.htm
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