October is a great month for tidying up, planting for next year, and preparing your garden for winter, whilst setting the stage for next spring.
Flowers 🌼
Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils and crocuses.
Plant up cheery pot displays such as heathers, cyclamen, and winter pansies.
Plant evergreen shrubs and conifer hedges whilst the soil is still warm.
Remove pot saucers and raise pots onto feet to prevent waterlogging over winter.
Empty spent summer pots and hanging baskets, and compost the contents.
Garden Maintenance 🌿
Rake up fallen leaves from borders, driveways, and paths.
Build a log pile at the back of a border for wildlife to shelter in.
Apply autumn lawn feed to revive the grass.
Greenhouse 🌱
Clean out the greenhouse to get rid of debris that can harbour overwintering pests and diseases.
Sow quick-growing microgreens for nutrient-rich pickings in just a few weeks.
Sow sweet peas in deep pots for early flowers indoors.
Water plants more sparingly as conditions turn cooler and days become shorter.
Fruit and Vegetables 🍎
Take cuttings of shrubby herbs like rosemary and thyme.
Keep sowing batches of hardy broad beans and peas outdoors for early crops next year.
Divide large clumps of herbs and replant.
Cut fruited stems of blackberries and autumn raspberries.
House plants 🌵
Feed house plants once a week, continuing through to autumn.
Water house plants less frequently and move them off particularly cold windowsills at night.
Plant amaryllis bulbs in pots for spectacular flowers over the festive season.
Take leaf cuttings from house plants like African violets and begonias
