Garden Notes - October

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed how quickly the nights are drawing in and it's making me realise just how much work I still need to do in my garden in order to 'put it to bed' for the winter.  I’m like this at every changing season, there's always a feeling of so much to do and so little time to do it.  As I mentioned  in last month's garden notes, there are many tasks that need to be done in my own garden and it's easy to feel overwhelmed when faced with such a long list. 

I've realised that having a plan in place when I head outside can help me stay focussed.  If I'm going out to do a job such as pruning I try to make sure that I have the right tools with me at the very start.. This month I will begin cutting down my herbaceous plants as they stop flowering & die back for the winter. I've tried in the past to leave them standing as a habitat for wildlife in the garden but I don’t like to see everything looking soggy and overgrown during the winter months so I now aim to strike a balance between making sure I provide lots of wildlife habitats where it is practical, and cutting down leaves and flowers as they are killed off by the first frosts. 

Also this month I'll be travelling to London for the Chartered Institute of Horticulture 40ᵗʰ Anniversary Conference at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens The theme of the event is sustainability and how we, as gardeners can help address some of the challenges that the planet is facing using Horticulture. It's a challenging time for gardeners, the climate is more unpredictable than it's ever been so I'm excited to learn how I can advise people on changes they might need to make in their gardens going forward.

In Your Garden

Autumn Lawn Care

Your lawn will still be growing so if we have a few sunny dry days it's worth giving it one last cut before the winter.  If you have bare patches or areas that get muddy very easily October is a good month to go over the area with a garden fork before adding some loam and grass seed to the area.  Simply mix see with a peat free loam based compost and brush over the area you've just added holes to.  This will add air to the soil and allow the grass to regenerate.  Make sure you remove any autumn leaves from the grass as these can cause grass to die off.  Instead use them to add organic matter to your borders. 

End of Season Tidying

Now is a good time to have a look for signs of disease or damage in your borders that can be removed before winter sets in. Broken or damaged stems can be easily removed without harming the plant.  Any plants that have been flowering since midsummer will be starting to finish their growing cycle for the year so you can prune them from now onwards without removing next year's flowers. Any large scale pruning is probably best left until Spring though. If you have plants that flowered before midsummer wait until next year to be pruned as soon as they finish flowering.  (Look out for a how to guide in the Spring) 

Herbaceous plants at the front of the border can be cut back down to the base and the tops composted.  You don't have to get everything cut back this month, you can tackle it bit by bit as the weather allows.

While you are working on your herbaceous plants you can lift and divide any that are looking crowded.  Just dig out any large clumps with a garden fork.  Chop them into smaller sections replanting some and plant the others in any bare spots in your garden.  If you don't have space for this give them away to friends or join a plant swap and pass them on to 

Vegetable Gardens

If you have a veg garden or an allotment you might find that you have a lot of bare soil as summer crops have come to the end of their season. Empty beds can soon become choked with weeds and now is the time to dig out and dispose of problem weeds, although you should avoid putting these in your compost heap as it can cause problems in the future.  If you have lots of compost ready to go, use this to top dress your veg beds for the winter.  Doing so will protect your soil and provide shelter and a source of food to the microorganisms that live there. 

Wildlife in the Garden

Many of our native species are under threat from a loss of habitat.  As more and more gardens are lost to hard landscaping it can be hard for small mammals, amphibians and insects to find shelter over winter.  Providing insect hotels, bird boxes log and rock piles or leaving areas of the garden slightly wild and providing a source of food can make a big difference to local wildlife.