Ottery St Mary garden guru Jo Morse tells us to use October to get prepared for the colder months ahead.
The unpredictable weather and warm snippets at the beginning of September may have lulled everyone into a false sense of security. But it really is a good idea to make preparations now for early frosts, as well as carry out sensible garden maintenance.
Protecting plants
If you’ve put any of your houseplants outdoors for sunlight and fresh air, now is a good time to bring them inside again. It only takes one chilly night to ruin your favourite houseplant.
Move any tender plants into the greenhouse soon. Give them plenty of room and don’t crowd them together. This will help keep them ventilated as well as reducing any risk of disease. In fact, before you bring them in, give them the once over to see if there are any aphids or other pests.
For semi-hardy plants like olive trees, tree ferns, cordyline and bananas, although it’s not yet time to wrap them in fleece, it’s a good idea to think ahead. Purchase a roll of garden fleece – that way, when there’s a frost forecast, you’ll be ready to wrap!
Cutting back, pruning and overwinter storage
If you have climbing or rambling roses, as soon as they’ve finished flowering, prune and tidy them. Even if they are against a wall or fence, tie the stems to give them support during the autumn and winter winds to come.
Give your evergreen hedges a trim to keep them looking tidy over the winter. Cut back overhanging branches and remove any brambles that might have snuck in.
When your perennial plants have finished, you can cut back the foliage. However, you may prefer to leave it to provide shelter for insects and other garden wildlife. It might not look as neat, but you’ll be supporting the ecosystem.
October is a good month to lift spent gladioli corms, begonia and dahlia tubers ready for storing during the winter. Take off dead foliage and make sure you have a cool, dark, dry space to store them. There are lots of ideas for storage, you may well have your own preferred method. Some people use newspaper for layers, others like to hang their corms and tubers in mesh bags.
The vegetable patch
You may still have tomato plants with lots of fruit but there will come a point when these aren’t ripening. You can ripen them indoors on a windowsill, hang the plants upside down indoors, or collect the green tomatoes to make green tomato chutney.
If you grow rhubarb then October/November is the time to divide clumps. Simply dig up the plant and divide the root ball into sections by cutting through the crown with a sharp spade. Ideally each section should contain one to three buds and plenty of roots.
Cut back the fruited canes of your summer fruiting raspberries, leaving the new green canes for next year’s crop. Tie in next year’s raspberry canes to plant support wires or fencing.
Any nets on your fruit cages can now be removed. The birds will enjoy finishing off any leftover and overripe fruit and will also help themselves to pests – natural pest control!
Reuse
With any garden containers and pots that you decide to empty, you can add the compost to your borders as a mulch and to make the most of any goodness that is still remaining.
When tomatoes or other bag grown veg are finished, try growing salad leaves. You might have a supply of fresh salad into early winter!
General ‘house’-keeping
Buy pot feet or use spare bricks to lift your pots off the ground. This will prevent them becoming waterlogged during the wetter months and will also provide protection against frosts cracking the pot.
If you have a pond, clear out pond weed. Leave the weed spread out beside the pond for a day so wildlife like water beetles can make their way back into the water.
Give bird baths and bird feeders a good clean then refill. If you don’t have these garden items – then put them on your wish list! Encouraging birds into the garden throughout the year is a good method of pest control. And you’ll get a lot of enjoyment from watching your feathered friends – robins and blackbirds can become particularly friendly.
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