Your garden In October

[GlitterBiscuits]

What jobs are usually done in October?
What does your garden have going on right now?

I'm planting wallflowers this weekend
And getting some bulbs from Wilko. I have had great results with them over the last 2 years

It's a good month to do a tidy up of your greenhouse if you have one ready to over winter plants.

Time to plant trees and shrubs too. I've just about run out of room for anything else. I'd like a bigger garden but don't want to leave my current garden!

I've just cut the borders deeper (there'll be no lawn left at this rate!) and moved everything around a bit to hopefully look nicer next year. Moving plants is as good as going to the garden centre and buying new ones - they look new when in a new spot . Plus, it gave me chance to divide a few and add to stock or just make them healthier.

Then topped with composted bark to mulch for winter and improve soil over coming months (thanks to the worms).

Raked and seeded the lawn to repair dog ore patches and the bits I've trampled in whilst doing all that work.

Added more bulbs into the garden. I'm amazed I could find any free space as there's so many in there by now

Planted you some winter pansies for colour over the next few months.

It's been a busy week but I am super excited to see how it all fares next year.

Oh and I'll be planting some sweet peas seeds soon so they are ready to go out next spring!

Just inherited two neglected Cordylines ?from NDN who is moving . They are in pots and a bit dried out but think they may recover. Do I cut them down or just shelter them over Winter ? Can’t wait to plant lots of bulbs and pansies !

Bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs.

Putting the greenhouse to bed as it were.

I have onions and Christmas potatoes to go in (late with the spuds, but hey ho).

Cutting back the heleniums, and some other perennial bits.

Planting the baskets with winter bedding.

Clearing paths and the likes.

Following for ideas. I planted daffodils and tulips last weekend. I'd like to get some colour for the winter too. I bought a hanging basket last autumn and it was so lovely to see it endure during the winter months.

@Ulysses stupid question here from a novice (understatement) gardener with a huge garden which all I seem to manage to do is weed.

Daffodils you say? Are you saying I could buy seeds? From a shop, plant them now and have daffodils next spring?

I need to do a big tidy up of my veg beds. I've still got outdoor tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers cropping, along with courgettes and sweetcorn. The recent bad weather has battered them though so I don't think we've got much longer. I need to pull up the last of the beetroot and carrots too.

Once I've tidied up I'll sow green manure over the winter.

I've planted up a few pots and a hanging basket with pansies for the winter. I've also bought loads of bulbs (daffodils, tulips and crocuses) but will wait a bit longer before planting them. I planted them too early last year and they started coming up in autumn as it was still quite warm.

Once I've taken the greenhouse tomatoes out and given it a good clean I will sow the sweet peas ready for next spring.

Watching for ideas!!

[quote sittingonacornflake]@Ulysses stupid question here from a novice (understatement) gardener with a huge garden which all I seem to manage to do is weed.

Daffodils you say? Are you saying I could buy seeds? From a shop, plant them now and have daffodils next spring? [/quote]
Bulbs. You need to put in Spring bulbs late Autumn or early Winter (eg Oct to early Dec) to flower this Spring.
Tulips (apart from species tulips) don’t last long and many will only really flower well for one year, daffodils and many other bulbs will go on for many years and some will spread gradually.
I buy new tulips every autumn .

It’s bulbs rather than seeds for daffodils @sittingonacornflake. Shops are selling them just now. I got mine from Homebase but I’ve seen them in Tesco too this week.

I have loads of bulbs to plant, plus garlic. My tomatoes are still cropping though I think it's unlikely they are all going to ripen so those will need to be dismantled. I'm not sure about the runner beans growing up the fence (but not cropping much now). I'll leave those and see what happens.

The flower beds need a bit of a tidy up. They're very windswept at the moment: my cosmos and sunflowers are taking a real battering. I'll need to dismantle the hanging baskets (mainly surfinia) and replant with the trailing pansies that I planted out to keep going early summer.
And of course, masses of leaves to sweep up everywhere, which I'm adding to the compost bin.

Bulb buying and planting, apple picking. More apple picking. Grape harvest. Sorting out veg pots and greenhouse for winter. Sweeping up leaves from paths and lawns. Want to start winter pruning but it’s too early .

@pandora206 do you find leaves are ok on the compost heap? Don’t they take too long to rot down?

@Ulysses thank you I'll have to keep an eye out.

Another novice here, this is the first year we have had flowerbeds, always just shrubs before. Should I cut things back or leave them? We have lupins, lilies, gladioli, cosmos, poppies, pansies, dahlias. It was a real riot of colour for a while. I have spring bulbs to plant but no greenhouse to store anything so can't really lift plants to over-winter them.

I've always chucked leaves in my compost but then I put most things in and just wait until it's ready. I don't have masses (so not half a bin full or anything like that). Anything that doesn't rot down within a year is recomposted. I have two dalek bins on the go for that reason.

I've got a few jobs that I've been putting off due to bad weather this week -

• Turn compost / remove what's useable (I have a plastic dalek style compost bin that I hate, hoping to build big palette ones in future once we have cleared an outbuilding)

• mulch with aforementioned compost. Prioritise trees / shrubs planted over the past year or two

• plan and pre order beech hedges bare root for front garden

• sow chard , with a polycarbonate cover on one of the pots

• harves all the Thai basil I've grown in the conservatory. Thinking about storing this in ice cubes so it can be dropped into curries etc as needed.

• bring in more tender perennials to keep in the conservatory over winter

I've always had great results from Wilko bulbs, haven't got any this year as I haven't been as into gardening for some reason. It's a shame as it brings me so much joy, but I would like it to be social, and I feel with wfh the rest of the time I don't want to spend yet more time alone iyswim? I was dreaming about a community garden or allotment but nothing nearby. Have my name down on the local allotment list but I'm number 20 so will be a few decades yet!!!

I’ve planted daffodils, hyacinths,muscuri, and snowdrops so far. Tulips, alliums and fritillary crown imperial bulbs are next. I’ve planted sweet peas, Passion flower and cyclamen seeds.

I’m not cutting anything down yet as it’s best for nature to leave it a while. I’ve moved a few shrubs to new places and planted some new perennials. I need to dig over a flower bed and remove the invasive mint that the previous owners put in as I want it as a cutting bed next year.

The falling leaves are starting to be a nightmare, I have 20 trees in my garden, but my OH is in charge of the leaf blower and I really really need to start a compost heap !

Have just had a huge Leyllandi cut down, planted by previous owners. I removed the plants growing in the bed underneath into pots. I’ve improved the soil and will replace the plants and plant bulbs, but looking forward to increasing the plants next year.
Slowly clearing the greenhouse of the last tomatoes, ready for cleaning.
Tidying the planters in the courtyard and sweeping up leaves.

I'd plant my bulbs but they've not turned up yet. They should have.

I may have a few to plant... May have got a little carried away.

I've just had my bulb order arrive and as this is a totally new blank slate sort of garden with nothing in it (it's a 1970s house but seems to never had a gardener live here at all) I'm just starting to work out where things can go. There's a lot more 'no go' areas than I thought, where there's no way of getting to earth to plant because gravel is covering up old concrete driveway or similar. It's a lot to get my head round as I plant and plan.

I expect to curse my own greed next week when my bulb order arrives and I have to spend hours making holes in the lawn to plant dozens of crocuses, reticulata irises and dwarf daffodils for naturalising, and then again next month when I have to find containers for all the tulips because I'm a sucker for pretty shapes and colours. No bucket, washing up bowl or casserole dish will be safe.

@sandgrown

Just inherited two neglected Cordylines ?from NDN who is moving . They are in pots and a bit dried out but think they may recover. Do I cut them down or just shelter them over Winter ? Can’t wait to plant lots of bulbs and pansies !

Don’t cut them down, just cut off any dead leaves, water and they should be fine. Mine seem to be bomb proof!

I spread my fallen leaves over the beds as a mulch, always amazes me how they've all gone by spring.
I've planted some veg seedlings today - brassicas, spring onions and winter salads, plus garlic.
Still to plant my flower bulbs.
Would love to dig a pond but still prevaricating over where.
Would love to prune my soft fruits now but apparently better to wait till late winter.

@pandora206

I've always chucked leaves in my compost but then I put most things in and just wait until it's ready. I don't have masses (so not half a bin full or anything like that). Anything that doesn't rot down within a year is recomposted. I have two dalek bins on the go for that reason.

Right, much like me, then. I add small quantities. But we do have masses of leaves so I squirrel them away on bare ground under trees. I did try putting them in a compound, and they rotted to beautiful leaf mould, but when I tried to use it, I found it had been completely taken over by Berberis roots