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What To Do In The Garden In October

October 15, 2019 By Jill Anderson 2 Comments

Autumn reaches its’ peak in October. The colours are at their best, not yet spoiled by wind & rain. There’s still a reasonable amount of daylight & the light is low & soft, making autumn colours glow beautifully. It’s worth bearing in mind that when you plant for autumn colour, place the plant so that it is backlit by the the setting sun.

What To Do In The Garden In October- sunlight through autumn leaves.

There is an inevitable march towards winter…. but first there are treats.

The ordering & planting of spring flowering bulbs, such good value. Plant them in the garden, in pots for the front door, boxes by the back door & in small pots to give away next year to friends – Iris reticulata & Narcissus tete-a-tete are particularly good for this.

Tulip Abu Hassan, www.growingnicely.co.uk,

Tulip Abu Hassan

Remember to leave tulip planting until November or even December.

Clearance is best kept to a minimum. Cutting & edging the grass, sweeping leaves from paths & lawns is all the tidying that needs to be done to keep everything looking good.

Plan any planting of trees, shrubs & hedging, because the bare-root season is almost here. Bare root plants are a much cheaper alternative to those sold in pots, & because the roots haven’t been constrained by pots, they seem to get away & grow more quickly. Whichever you decide to use,  plan & order now.

Move tender plants, pelargoniums & the like into the greenhouse. I housed my favourite Pelargonium sidoides in the greenhouse last winter, & it almost didn’t survive. This winter its coming inside to live on a cool window-sill.

delicate red flowers of Pelargonium Ardens

I haven’t got a photo of Pelargonium sidoides, but here’s Pelargonium ardens, which is almost as lovely.

VEGETABLES:

There’s a different approach to clearing the vegetable plot/allotment from the ornamental part of the garden.

Old foliage & plant debris needs to be cleared away & piled in the compost bin, unless it’s diseased. Bare soil is unnatural in nature & it’s easily degraded by rain, but easily solved by sowing green manure. October is a bit late for sowing, but our garden is quite sheltered, so there’s a good chance it’ll be fine. Green manures are plants that cover the soil, add nutrients & are dug back into the soil at the end of the winter to improve its’ structure.

You can buy different types depending on the time of year.

Garlic – Two reasons to plant garlic now

  1. an earlier crop next year,
  2. and it benefits from a winter frost.

Plan the planting so it’s not growing in the same bed as last year.

I don’t use shop bought garlic, ( thanks Martin for reminding me in your comment below!) its origin isn’t always on the label & if its from Spain it may not do well in our colder climate. Once you’ve had a good crop, you can save some of the plumpest cloves to plant & keep the garlic cycle going. A nice sustainable solution.

garlic cloves ready for planting

I’m planting garlic & sowing broad beans this month. Aquadulce is a good hardy variety of broad bean that’ll survive winter. There’s a second chance to sow broad beans in March if you don’t get round to it now.

Spinach & kale are doing well here, netted against pigeons, they’ll be the mainstay of the vegetable patch this winter.

What To Do In The Garden In October-kale at the allotment, www.growingnicely.co.uk

Garden Organic has a very informative piece about green manure here. I’ve bought seeds from Green Organic. Have you ever used it?

Jill

all photos: Jill Anderson

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Related posts:

micro greensHow to grow micro greens. The Drunken Botanist book,Gardening Books For Christmas Life in the earth blue delphineum flowers, aquilegia flower, www.growingnicely.co.ukWhat To Do In The Garden In June
Filed Under: Blog, Gardening, Growing Food, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: green manure, Pelargonium sidoides, what to do in the garden in October

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Comments

  1. Martin Hemingway says

    October 16, 2019 at 8:28 am

    I have looked at and used Garden Organic. My favourite is ‘Real Seeds’, in particular for their chatty and informative style of presentation and detail of where their seeds come from.

    I had my first successful garlic crop this year, autumn planting, but most important was buying garlic intended for planting, not trying to use shop bought garlic, and most important of all – plenty of food.

    Autumn broad bean planting has seen patchy germination, and the March sowing catch up quickly, meaning there is little advantage to an Autumn sowing. Autumn sowing of peas was even worse, even using recommended North French varieties – it may be that Leeds is too far north,

    Reply
    • Jill Anderson says

      October 16, 2019 at 9:59 am

      Hi Martin, just had a look at Real Seeds & it looks good, I’ll go back when I’ve got more time … thanks for the recommendation!
      I’ll edit this post & mention not using shop bought garlic, a lot is imported from China & you never know exactly what you’re getting. I’ve saved the plumpest cloves from home grown garlic to plant the following year with good results.
      I think you may be right about Leeds being too far north for autumn sown broad beans, but a sheltered position could help, heavier soil is colder too. All things considered though, its best to wait till spring because its so disappointing (also costly) when the results are poor!

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
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The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
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