Seasonal jobs for the month: October
| 1. |
Plant up containers for winter display using winter flowering pansies, violas and polyanthus, add interest with evergreen shrubs and perennials such as Skimmia, Euonymus, Heuchera and Carex. |
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| 2. |
Finish planting of onion sets early in the month and plant garlic for overwintering. |
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| 3. |
Cultivate heavy soils before it gets too wet and leave to break down over winter. |
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| 4. |
Plant up containers with winter bedding such as pansies, violas and polyanthus, evergreens such as ivy and Brachyglottis greyi, and spring bulbs. |
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| 5. |
Rake up and dispose of fallen rose leaves to limit the spread of foliage diseases. |
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| 6. |
If cleaning or repairing of pond is needed, autumn is the least damaging time for this. The main breeding season is over, but amphibians are not yet hibernating. |
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Kitchen garden
- Plant out spring cabbage
- Plant onion sets suitable for overwintering
- Continue harvesting apples and pears
- For best choice order bare root fruit trees and bushes early
- Continue picking autumn raspberries and blackberries
- Reduce damage to ripening marrows, pumpkins and squashes by placing the fruit on wooden boards or tiles
Ornamental garden
- Plant new and divide well established clumps of hardy perennials
- Clear gone over summer bedding and prepare ground for winter bedding/spring bulbs
- Stop feeding hardy garden plants
- Plant spring flowering bulbs in borders and containers
- Move evergreen shrubs
Pest and diseases
- Remove fruit affected with brown rot
- Bright orange, raised spots (pustules) on leaves of leeks and chives are caused by leek rust
- Keep leeks protected with enviromesh or fleece against leaf mining fly and leek moth.
- Do not compost blight affected foliage and tubers of potatoes and tomato plants and fruit
- Clumps of honey coloured toadstools at the base of trees and shrubs may indicate honey fungus
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Lawn
- To establish new lawns sow seed or lay turf
- Apply autumn law treatments with moss killers or proprietary moss killers
- Apply biological control (nematodes) against leather jackets and chafer grubs in lawns
- Consider planting bulbs such as C. tommasinianus, Chionodoxa luciliae, Narcissus 'February Gold' and Scilla siberica for naturalising in lawn
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Glasshouse & indoor
- To help ripening of crops remove shading as light levels fall
- Plant prepared hyacinth bulbs for Christmas in pots
- Reduce watering of Hippeastrum (amaryllis) to give the bulbs a resting period
- Continue harvesting tomatoes, peppers and aubergines
Ponds and water features
- Thin out oxygenating plants. Leave on side of the pond to allow wildlife to crawl back
- Where possible cover the pond with netting to prevent leaves falling in and rotting in the water.
- Continue removing blanket weed and duckweed
