New lawns can still be seeded (soon) or turfed this month.

This is a good time to plant trees, shrubs, roses, fruit trees and soft fruit plants.

Clear summer bedding from tubs and borders and replace it with plants which give colour through to spring. Garden Centres will have an extensive range of suitable species in their planterias including Winter Pansies, Violas, Wallflowers, Ornamental Cabbage etc. Don’t forget to add some colourful evergreen plants and spring flowering bulbs to your planting scheme.

Osteospermums, Arctotis, Argyranthemums and other tender perennials should be lifted from the borders, potted and brought inside for the winter.

Spray peaches and nectarines with Vitax Copper Mixture against peach leaf curl.

Spring flowering bulbs of all kinds can be planted outdoors this month.

Rake up fallen leaves both for general hygiene and to use to make leaf mould – a valuable soil conditioner. Continue planting spring flowering bedding like Wallflowers, Brompton Stocks, Forget-Me- Nots and Sweet Williams.

Allow the first frosts to blacken off Dahlia foliage before lifting and drying the tubers ready for winter storage. Treating the tubers with sulphur dust before storage helps to prevent rotting. If you have light soil consider leaving the tubers in the soil over winter, perhaps with a protective mulch of garden compost or bark over the root area.

Gladioli corms should be lifted, dried and stored in a frost-free place until spring.

Clean up dead foliage from the centres of Pampas Grass clumps, but wear strong gloves to avoid being cut by the razor sharp leaves. Lift and divide large clumps of early flowering perennials. Late flowers can be left until spring.

Mow lawns less frequently and treat them with an autumn lawn fertiliser. Lawns also benefit from a good wire raking to clear “thatch” and spiking with a hollow tined aerator. 

Hardwood cuttings can be taken from now onwards but the sooner the better.

Tidy up pond plants, removing the foliage from water lilies before they decompose in the water. Feed your fish less often as they begin to slow down for the winter. Remember to use a wheatgerm based food as these are much easier for the fish to digest.

Prune blackcurrants, blackberries and hybrid berries e.g. loganberries, tayberries.

Watering and ventilation need careful attention in greenhouses in order to avoid fungal diseases.

Sow winter lettuce under cloches and frames.

Plant lily bulbs in pots in a cold greenhouse to get early flowers.

Sow sweet peas in pots in a cold frame. Protect against damage by mice.

Pick apples and pears. Remember to remove any mummified fruits as these harbour brown rot disease.

As houseplants slow down for the winter they will require less watering and feeding.

If you wish to move any deciduous shrubs do the job now. Lift the plants with a good rootball intact and re-plant firmly.

Tall deciduous shrubs – e.g. roses, Lavatera and Buddleia can be cut back by one third in order to prevent wind rock.

Dead foliage on any herbaceous plants can be removed between now and next Spring.

Sow broad bean Aquadulce Claudia in mild areas to crop next June.

Plant Paperwhite Narcissi now for flowering in mid-December. Keep the planted containers in a light warm place.

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October Gardening Tips by Reg Moule

This is a good time to move established evergreen shrubs, and the traditional time to start planting new trees and shrubs of all kinds. Use some mychorrizal fungi when planting to aid rapid establishment in the new situation.

As the summer bedding plants begin to fade replace them with cheerful autumn bedding varieties to brighten up the dull winter days ahead. Make-up winter hanging baskets using pansies, bright evergreens and winter flowering heathers. Prepared hyacinths should be planted and put in a cool, dark place by the end of this month if you want them in bloom by Christmas. 

Watch out for aphid attacks on winter flowering pansies. The colonies live deep among the central rosette of leaves, causing the plants to wilt. Also there are three types of leaf spot fungal diseases that can attack pansies, so check the foliage for them too.

Sow some hardy annuals outdoors in flowering positions in sheltered spots. Now is the time to get busy with planting spring flowering bulbs and we have a comprehensive range on display. If you like to prioritize your buying, the things to go for now are autumn flowering crocus, Madonna lilies, Colchicums, Fritillarias and prepared hyacinths. It is a good plan to plant Daffs. and Narcissi early too. Scarify the lawn to remove “thatch” and feed with Autumn lawn dressing. This is a good time to sow or turf a new lawn and repair bare patches. You could also over-seed all or part of the lawn to thicken the sward.

Grease band the trunks of fruit trees to trap the wingless female Winter moths as they climb them to lay eggs. Strawberries should be planted by the end of this month for cropping next year. Plant garlic now in a sunny free draining spot. They like a long growing season in order to make the best cloves.

Sow some autumn lettuce under cloches or for planting in a cold greenhouse. Plant out spring cabbage plants 15cm (6in) apart in rows 30cm (1ft) apart.

If your lawn is infested with leatherjackets or chafer grubs control them using natural biological pest control nematodes available from specialist suppliers and through some garden centres.

Sow green manure crops on vacant areas of the veg. garden for digging in next spring.

Plant Japanese onion sets to get a lovely crop of flavoursome onions ready from June.

Spray Michaelmas daisies with a fungicide or plant invigorator to prevent mildew.

Lift beetroot, carrots, turnips and potatoes for winter use. Leave parsnips and swedes in the ground to develop more flavour. Sow some compact hardy annuals in a cold greenhouse to grow into winter flowering pot plants. Pick green tomatoes for chutney or ripening in a brown paper bag in a drawer indoors. Reduce watering and ventilation in the greenhouse as temperatures drop. Lift, divide and re-plant early spring flowering herbaceous perennials. Bring in any tender shrubby plants taken outside for summer displays e.g. Brugmansia.

Cut back marginal plants and net your pond to keep out autumn leaves. Bring in tender floating pond plants, like water chestnut and water hyacinth before frost. The floating plant water soldier can remain in the pond.

Dry some herb foliage for winter use, or chop and freeze them in ice cubes. Prune summer fruiting raspberries by removing old, fruited canes. Take cuttings from roses, preferably using shoots that have flowered. Trim them to 23cm (9in) long.

Increase ventilation for indoor grapes to reduce fungal attack.

Treat sheds, fences etc. with a good wood preserver.

Bring in any houseplants that have been outside “on holiday” for the summer.

September gardening tips

Keep all newly planted items well watered. This includes ones planted last autumn.

Sow or turf new lawns and keep mowing established ones – but not too low.

Treat difficult lawn weeds e.g. clovers, black medic with Weedol Lawn Weedkiller, it has the right ingredients for these weeds.

Hang up a codling moth trap in your apple tree, or a plum moth one in your plum

tree, to reduce the number of maggoty fruit. There is also now a trap readily available for catching box tree moths which are now quite widespread in our area.

Plant out cabbage, cauliflower and other brassicas but take precautions against root fly.

Keep on top of pest and disease outbreaks, as well as controlling weeds.

Don’t forget your houseplants, feed and water them regularly.

Sow suitable varieties of pansies to flower from autumn throughout the winter.

Sow biennials for flowering next spring onwards e.g. wallflowers, myosotis, sweet

Plant out chrysanthemums for flowering in borders or for cutting.

Plant out summer bedding plants when frost risk is minimal.

Tie in wallshrubs and climbers to their supports try to train them at 45 degrees or

Trim over aubretia and arabis after flowering to keep them neat.

Prune wall trained pyracantha and chaenomeles after flowering.

Keep strawberry fruits off the soil using straw or mats.

Cut down spring flowering perennials – e.g. pulmonarias and doronicums after

flowering to produce a neat mound of new foliage. Untrimmed plants often become mildewed.

Sow swedes, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, French and runner beans outdoors.

Plant out sweet corn in blocks, rather than a long row, as they are wind pollinated.

Take cuttings from dahlias and chrysanthemums for flowering later in summer.

Plant tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers etc in a cold greenhouse or outdoors if in sheltered site.

Make up summer flowering hanging baskets and containers.

Brighten up your patio with some spectacular frost tender container plants, like brugmansia.

Prune clematis montana straight after flowering, if they are getting out of bounds.

Plant out leeks, marrows, courgettes and melon plants.

Enjoy more herbs by sowing Basil, Corriander and Parsley every fortnight.

Spinach often runs to seed if sown after mid May – so sow leaf beet instead.

Sow some half-hardy annuals for use as winter pot plants e.g. calceolarias, schizanthus and cinnerarias.

Sow ornamental cabbage and kale for winter colour in tubs and borders. Beware of houseplants getting scorched on sunny windowsills.

Listen to the weather forecast in case of any nasty late frosts.

May gardening tips

Sow annual climbers e.g. Asarina, Eccremocarpus, Cobaea, Ipomoea, Tropaeolum and Rhodochiton. Dead head daffodils and narcissi – feed them but DO NOT cut off the foliage. Keep an eye out for slugs and take steps to control them. Prune out any frost damaged shoots on less hardy shrubs such as Pittosporum. Plant summer flowering bulbs outdoors e.g. Gladioli and Nerine bowdenii, if you already have overcrowded clumps of Nerines in your garden lift and divide them now. For trouble free roses, spray with one of the safer rose combined pest and disease treatments or Uncle Tom’s Plant Tonic for an organic solution to rose diseases. Prune Forsythias and winter Jasmine after flowering. Finish dividing overcrowded herbaceous perennial plants. Plant summer flowering bulbs eg. Gladioli, Dahlias etc. Straggly silver foliage plants can be cut back now e.g. Saintolina. (but not down into old wood - that is risky). Lift and divide pond plants. This is also a good time to introduce new plants too. Plant Asparagus crowns and Jerusalem artichokes. Divide overcrowded clumps of Nerines and Siberian Iris. Treat potted ornamental plants with Bug Clear Vine Weevil Killer, as it acts as both a control measure and an insurance policy .One treatment lasts three months. Organically, place a half inch layer of horticultural grit on top of the compost to prevent successful egg laying. Cover some established strawberry plants with cloches to get an early crop. Plant new conifer hedges and trim established ones. 

Tackle pernicious weeds, like bindweed, with a systemic weed killer containing glyphosate, it is best to use an “extra strong” version. Hardy annuals can still be sown in situ outdoors. Plant dormant dahlia tubers 10cm (4in) deep outdoors at the foot of support stakes. Undertake lawn renovations by repairing damaged edges and removing bumps and hollows. Watch out for whitefly appearing in your greenhouse, hang up some yellow sticky traps to monitor them. Plant some French marigolds or Coleus cannina near your tomatoes to deter the pests. Take conifer cuttings. Pull off 7.5 – 10 cm (3-4in) side shoots. Trim up the base. Dip in hormone and insert in free draining compost. Watch out for attacks of gooseberry mildew and gooseberry sawfly, these devastate bushes. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprout and celery plants. Finish planting sprouted maincrop potatoes. Sow tomato seeds now for outdoor planting in June. Begin planting up hanging baskets, keep them inside until frost risk is minimal. Check your greenhouse regularly, as watering, shading and ventilation are important. Sow Basil indoors, but do not plant outside until there is no risk of frost. Start successional sowings of salad crops eg. Lettuce, carrots and radishes. 

Sow tender veg. indoors for planting out next month e.g. courgettes, French and Runner beans. Sow marrow, courgette and squash seed on its side and soak Sweet Corn seed in water for 4 hours before sowing. Prune early flowered Clematis after blooming e.g. C. alpina and C. macropetala. This is only necessary where space is limited. This is a good time to re-pot any houseplants that are pot bound Store unused seeds left in open packets in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Treat your lawn to an application of lawn food. Miracle Gro Thick and Green is my favourite as its food is release according to the weather conditions.  

Early in the month, middle of the month and end of the month. What will you do during this month?

Gardening

October Gardening Tips by Reg Moule

September gardening tips

May gardening tips

April gardening tips