October

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Mid Autumn October, warm but wan days, gales and often floods, use every good day to get the pruning, tidying and winter preparations done in case the weather closes in sooner than expected.

OUTDOORS

Make sure no weeds are getting away, so still hoe fortnightly Cut the grass at least fortnightly, preferably weekly, collecting clippings and fallen leaves together raking them into rings around trees and bushes Aerate and spike the grass if needed adding sharp sand and grass seed if a true workaholic Raise the height of cut on your mower to leave the grass blades longer as they will endure winter better If you are planting new trees and bushes dig the holes well before they arrive to let more air into the soil- and so they can be put in more quickly

If you are saving urine to add to the compost bin or as a fertilizer add some sugar and it will stay sweeter and not whiff so much BST ends this month, longer darker nights, so fit a good padlock to your garden shed Lots of bonfires and fireworks coming- if it’s dry weather liberally hose down anything that might catch fire from a spark especially conifers, evergreens and bushy climbers on your shed and house Sow grass seed on any bare patches before soil cools

Last chance to sow hardy annual seed for an early show next year– but put down layer of old potting compost first and sow onto that to reduce weeds Now is a good time to plant almost anything hardy- bulbs, deciduous shrubs, trees and herbaceous perennials so fill up or rework any gappy bed! Cut and move turves to repair edges, bald patches or grass down beds

Make new beds and borders Raise height of cut but keep mowing regularly as longer bladed grass comes through hard weather better than close cropped turf Brush leaves onto the lawn, shred and collect them with the clippings using a rotary mower, pack them into dustbin bags and in a year or two they turn into a good mulch Return some clippings and shredded leaves to turf to feed the worms for better fertility, drainage and aeration Admit an Indian summer is now unlikely so put away your garden furniture with a wipe down, waxing or oiling where appropriate Make your garden tidier putting everything unnecessary out of sight

Clear fallen leaves before they choke low growing plants

Make compost with all the dying back foliage, weeds and crop residues, you can collect before it has withered away it’s goodness Put a warm insulated cover on top of compost bin

Put away plastic hose, watering cans and anything that holds water before the hard frosts come and freeze them Insulate outdoor pots and containers of marginally hardy plants with bubble wrap or similar Empty and clean, and get more, water butts and gutters now to catch winter rain for next spring Go on a Coral Spot hunt as the leaves drop- look for pink spotted stems and cut them out and burn them

Check straps, tree ties and stakes as next month may have worse gales

Cut back herbaceous plants as their stems wither Put sharp sand over crowns of dying down herbaceous plants to mark positions and exclude slugs Put mat of dry leaves over slightly tender herbaceous plant crowns and hold these down with a layer of grass clippings Put dead sticks, fern or bracken around and amongst the crowns of tender plants left outdoors as this will also help them survive cold better Spread mulches under and around everything possible Cut hollow stemmed prunings into foot lengths, wrap a bundle round with newspaper leaving ends open and tie inside an evergreen for insect hotel Collect and dry seeds and berries for sowing next year and to feed birds Clean and refill bird baths, and start using warm water from now on AND in the fruit cage and orchard The very latest apples may hang up till now but need picking and storing now before hard frosts or birds damage them Gather grapes still needing picking before the weather worsens Get your soft fruit, shrubs and trees planted soon and before the soil loses all it’s warmth Winter prune apples, pears, and most other tree fruit as soon as they drop their leaves, but don’t touch the stone fruits

Winter prune soft fruits thinning out blackcurrant bushes, removing dead raspberry and bramble canes and cutting back side shoots on gooseberries and currants Prune grapevines asap, even if all their leaves haven’t fallen yet AND in the vegetable plot Plant garlic and autumn shallots sooner rather than later this month, while the soil still has some warmth Plant garlic cloves a little under the surface, ideally surround each with a weather protection tube cut from a plastic bottle Shallots grow best projecting out of the soil, hold the sets in place whilst rooting with a wee mound of soil or potting compost to remove kater You can damage the basal plate (where the roots emerge) planting shallots and garlic cloves just pushing them into place so dib a wee hole first Sow hardy broad beans and hardy peas for really early crops if a mild winter let’s them survive You can plant (they’ll have to be your own) potato sets now, cover over after with a thick layer of straw and most years they survive to crop early next summer with no more work Protect over-wintering brassicas against the wood pigeons, emptied wire hanging baskets work well! Cover up carrots with some shredded paper or straw and a plastic sheet so you can dig them when the ground is frozen On bare soil in your veg plot empty out any old packets of flower seeds, if they grow they’ll make a fine green manure, if they don’t it will have saved you sowing them next spring

ORDER

Not to late to order bare rooted fruit trees, soft fruit to plant soon Order seed catalogues to peruse at leisure Order seed potatoes asap as there’s often a shortage of new good ones Order a couple of point of lay pullets to arrive next month and they’ll give you eggs after mid-winter once they’ve settled down Stake a claim now for wood ashes about to be produced from nearby bonfires over Halloween and Fireworks night- ideally clean woody ones not those with ‘nasties’ Look for end of season ‘sale’ bar-b-q charcoal as it keeps fine till next year when it will undoubtedly cost more, and can be pounded to a coarse powder to improve sowing and potting composts, to darken soil, and small lumps are good drainage at the bottom of pots Buy poinsettias and ‘christmassy’ plants now to enjoy them for a month and more before giving them away as presents…

UNDER COVER

Check ripening pears daily, as yesterday they were under-ripe, tomorrow they’ll have gone over! Put your longest to keep apples resting on straw or shredded paper rather than on a hard surface, and the same for squashes Store marrows and pumpkins in a warm dry place to ripen their skins, a shed is not as good as under the bed Go through your stores evicting anything rotting threatening others Put slug pubs in where your potatoes are stored to draw out the blighters Put slug pubs in where your apples are stored especially if you collect windfalls Carefully position mousetraps where your seeds and bulbs are stored but so kids and cats won’t come amiss

GREENHOUSE

Bring in any not very hardy plants asap before cold weather hurts them- citrus can stay out a tad longer only if weather stays mild and if they’re covered over on cold nights Decrease watering further to a minimum as growth slows more Be extra vigilant to remove every dead leaf and bloom as it is on these grey mould may start Tender plants now brought under cover may roast on the odd hot days- check auto ventilation is working or open up in time Go on an undercover slug, snail and woodlice hunt; turf them out of their cosy dens – a portable car vacuum cleaner will catch those fast wood lice Check your greenhouse heater does come on and go off as you imagine Drain and insulate greenhouse and outside pipes, taps and hoses before harder frosts come Clean glass and plastic again to let through the most of the dim autumn light Sow Claytonia (Miner’s Lettuce) or Valerianella (Corn salad) as green manure in greenhouse and walk in tunnel borders