The month of October is one of the busiest times in the garden. The days are now longer than the nights and along with the higher temperatures plant growth from now on will be very rapid.

Flower Garden

  1. Keep the water up on daffodils so that they grow well to produce next season’s flowers, also treat for bulb fly now.
  2. As flowering shrubs finish flowering now is the time to prune them to encourage growth for next season’s flowers.
  3. Mulch around shrubs to suppress  the weeds and conserve moisture during the hotter Summer.
  4. At the end of the month start planting the summer annuals, dahlias, chrysanthemums and other warmer loving perennials.
  5. As shrubs and trees start to grow they will benefit from having a light application of fertiliser.
  6. Watch out for signs of pest and disease on the new growth on plants especially roses, dahlias, chrysanthemums, fuchsias etc. and take control measures as needed.
  7. Remember small seedling weeds are easier to eliminate so on fine warm days get the hoe out and go around the garden.

Lawns

  1. Rapid growth is now on so the grass needs to be cut at lest every week and sometimes more often. Remember to only cut about 1/3 of the leaf area of the plants.
  2. Do not cut the lawns too low as this encourages weeds and moss to grow in the lawn.
  3. You can now treat the lawn for broadleaf weeds but do not compost or use the clippings around the garden.
  4. With rapid growth grass will need to be fed to keep it nice and green through out the summer so feed now and water in.
  5. Keep the water up on the grass if the weather is dry. It’s better not to let the grass get too dry before watering to keep it green.

Fruit & Veggie Garden

  1. Successive sowing of green leaf crops every 3 to 4 weeks will give a continuous supply throughout the Summer.
  2. At the end of the month warm loving crops may be planted (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans, sweetcorn, etc.)
  3. Transplant early raised seedlings of the warmer loving plants to give some early harvest (do not plant too many as these early plantings often do not crop as well as later plantings do).
  4. Main crop potatoes can start to be planted now. Mould up the early potatoes as they emerge and watch out for late frosts.
  5. Sow the last of the onions main crop and leeks.
  6. Do not spray fruit trees while they are in flower wait until petal drop is finished then spray (this is the time to get control of brown rot on stone fruit and leaf curl)
  7. Keep the water and fertiliser up on rhubarb and asparagus to get continuous supply.