As the leaves change and temperatures drop, it's time to prepare your garden for the winter months. Harvest your remaining crops, tidy up your garden beds, and plan for a bountiful spring planting. Here are 15 helpful tips for October to guide you through the process.
October gardening tips
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Once your herbaceous perennials start to wither, trim them back to the ground. However, leave some hollow stems intact to offer shelter for insects during the winter.
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Protect your climbing and shrub roses from winter storms by pruning them. Shorten climbing roses and cut back shrub roses by half.
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To rejuvenate perennials like geraniums, salvias, daylilies, and agapanthus, lift and divide their clumps. Gently separate the clumps by hand or use two garden forks to pry them apart. If necessary, cut through any woody roots with a knife or spade.
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To prepare your summer-fruiting raspberries for next season, prune them back. Cut all the canes that bore fruit this year to the ground, leaving the new canes that will produce fruit next year.
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Harvest your remaining French and runner beans and then remove the plants. Cut them down to ground level and leave the roots in the soil to release nitrogen back into the ground.
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Pick green tomatoes and ripen them indoors. To speed up the ripening process, place them in a paper bag with a banana. Monitor the bag regularly and discard any tomatoes that are showing signs of spoilage.
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October is an ideal time to plant trees and shrubs. The soil is still warm from summer, allowing the roots to establish themselves during the winter months and be ready to grow vigorously next spring.
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Plant hardy peas like 'Avola' and deter pests. Cover the ground with netting to prevent mice from digging up the seeds, and use prickly holly leaves as an additional barrier.
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Start planting spring bulbs in October. Plant daffodils, irises, and crocuses now, but wait until November to plant tulips.
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Create vibrant winter displays by filling pots with winter bedding plants such as cyclamens and violas."
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Improve the health of your lawn by aerating, scarifying, and fertilizing it with a low-nitrogen autumn feed. Repair bare patches by sowing grass seed or laying turf.
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In colder regions, lift dahlia, begonia, and gladiolus bulbs and store them indoors in a dry place during the winter. In milder climates, you can leave the bulbs in the ground and cover them with a thick layer of mulch
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Protect half-hardy plants from frost by moving them to a frost-free location like a greenhouse or a sunny windowsill inside.
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To prevent pots from becoming waterlogged and freezing during the winter, elevate them on pot feet.
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Collect fallen leaves and transform them into nutrient-rich leaf mold. Create a compost pile or store the leaves in perforated black bags. After a year or two of decomposition, you'll have a valuable soil amendment to enrich your garden.
October offers plenty of gardening opportunities. Our friendly staff at Carpenters Nursery are always happy to help. We have everything you need for your autumn gardening projects, so visit our center today and discover what we have to offer!
