Garden jobs for October

It's spooky season, but don't let garden jobs scare you. Our roundup of things to do in the garden in October is here.

In your borders

Plant shrubs
If you find you’re staring at a lot of bare ground over winter, consider adding an evergreen shrub for some cold-weather structure.

Now is a great time to plant all kinds of shrub. Doing so now will give the roots chance to get going before winter, ready to cope with any dryness in spring.

Dig a hole twice as big as the rootball. Make sure the top of the soil is level with the surrounding ground. Backfill the hole and water in well – even if rain is forecast – to help the roots settle in.

We’ve a wide selection of evergreen and deciduous shrubs to suit all situations. Ask our staff for advice if you’re unsure.

Deadhead late summer flowerers
Later summer flowering plants may still be putting on a decent show. To keep the blooms coming, keep on top of deadheading. Don’t be tempted to just pull the spent heads off – cut back to the next leaf or new bud. This will encourage more flowers, for longer.

If your borders are looking less full, check out our range of late season interest perennials.

Keep fleece handy
There’s a very real chance of a serious cold snap in October which might catch your more tender plants unawares.

Keep a roll of horticultural fleece handy for any sudden frosts or temperatures under 5 degrees at night. Drape the fleece over anything more sensitive to cold, such as bananas, cannas and lemon and lime trees overnight, then remove during the day.

If persistently cold weather is forecast, it might be time to move those plants indoors to their winter hibernation home.

In the veg patch

Stake Brussels
Windier autumn weather can play havoc with taller brassicas like Brussels sprouts.

Get ahead if gales are on the way. Drive bamboo or stakes into the ground next to the plants and tie them in.

When tying in, use a figure-of-8 knot. This leaves room for the plant to grow on without being too restricted, and stops the stake rubbing against the stem.

Sow green manure
It’s likely you’ll have a few bare patches of ground at this time of year. While some open areas are useful habitat for some insects and invertebrates, lots of exposed soil can lead to more carbon being released. It can also mean soil dries out and loses nutrients quicker.

One option to counter this is to sow green manures, such as winter rye and vetch. These are quick growing, deep-rooted plants which act like a protective living carpet on bare soil, improving its structure, drawing nutrients up and keeping healthy fungal activity going under the surface.

Allow green manures to grow to maturity (usually when they start to flower), then cut back and compost at least 3 weeks before planting into the same bed or pot. You can leave rye and vetch over the winter and cut back in spring.

Turn compost
All that summer harvesting and clearing should mean your compost piles or bins are full to the brim.

To keep all that microbial activity going, it’s a good idea to keep turning your compost. This helps air get into the pile, which reduces the chance of the pile going sloppy and smelly. It also speeds up decomposition, giving you your lovely homemade compost sooner.

If you’ve room for two compost bins or bays, keep one empty so you can turn the current heap over into the second one. If you’ve got one bin or bay, stick a fork into the pile and flip it over. Get right down to the bottom of the pile, so you’re essentially turning the whole thing upside down.

If space is limited and the pile is hard to flip, get your fork in as low as possible and turn as much as you can – it’ll still help.

Maintenance

Mulch
As the weather gets wetter, it’s a good time to mulch your borders, pots and veg patch. Mulch is the one of best things you can do to improve your soil’s health and texture, as well as keeping it moist. And healthy soil means healthy and happy plants!

Apply a 4-6” layer of homemade compost, leafmould, well rotted manure, bagged mulch or peat free compost around your plants (leave a gap around the stem to prevent rotting) and over any bare patches. No need to dig it in – the worms will do that for you.

Create a “no dig” border
Now’s a good time to plan and prepare any new areas for planting next year. A great method for keeping your soil healthy is the ‘no dig’ method. 

We’re now learning just how much digging soil to prepare it can interrupt the delicate fungal network and ecosystem under the surface. In time this leads to worser performing plants and affects biodiversity. No dig makes an effort to avoid disrupting the soil’s natural harmony by doing all the work on the surface. It’s also less effort as there’s no need to hoe annual weeds before planting.

Simply mark out the area you’d like to plant, then layer plain cardboard (avoid plastic-coated stuff) over the area. Give the cardboard a decent soak, then top with a 4” layer of compost.

If the area is full perennial weeds (like bindweed, dock, creeping thistle, ground elder or couch grass), it’s best to lever those out first, including as much of the root system as possible.

By the time spring comes around, the cardboard will have largely rotted away, and you’ll have a lovely healthy bed to plant into.

If you’d like to plant up sooner, just dig through the cardboard to the soil underneath.