Fall is here, and October's most important gardening chores reflect that. It's about preparing the garden for winter and ensuring that the plants are either comfortable under the roof or can survive the weather outside. The main season for propagating trees and shrubs from cuttings now begins. In this article, we have summarized the most important October gardening tasks to help gardeners prepare the garden for winter!
Gardening in October: Cleaning the greenhouse
Let's start gardening in October in the greenhouse. Maybe your greenhouse was bursting at the seams with tomatoes, zucchini and chili plants this summer, but now the chilies have moved indoors for the winter and the tomatoes and zucchini are nearing their natural end, so it's time to clear the space for to prepare the winter new additions to the greenhouse growing calendar. Tender perennials, cuttings and some seedlings will find their place there, as will dahlia and canna tubers and begonia tubers.
The spent tomato and zucchini plants that are not affected by diseases such as powdery mildew go into the compost heap, and the compost from the planting bag is added to the beds as a soil improver. Although it no longer contains many nutrients, it helps to improve the structure and consistency of the soil. If you have soil beds in the greenhouse, weed them well and fertilize them with well-rotted compost and manure.
Once your greenhouse is empty, you'll want to tackle this important October gardening task - yourThoroughly clean the greenhouse, because a dirty environment can increase the risk of overwintering plants being attacked by fungi and mold. Wash the glass inside and out to remove dirt and algae and to let in as much light as possible. The same applies to the work surfaces. Then use a flexible plastic plant tag to wipe out the dirt from between the glass panes.
Don't forget to clear debris from the greenhouse's gutters so that rain can flow freely into the rain barrels - this is the ideal time to learn how to build a rain barrel if you haven't already.
Take care of your pots
Because of the way they are cultivated – close together and with limited amounts of food and water – container plants are among the most endangered plants in the garden. In winter they are at risk from frost and waterlogging and in milder periods they can be affected by mold. Below are some simple steps you can take to protect your planters from the elements of the season:
- One way to insulate pots so they don't break is to line them with bubble wrap and make sure the drainage holes remain clear.
- Use pot feet to allow excess water to drain away and prevent the compost from becoming waterlogged.
- Watch out for snails during mild fall and winter months. Copper tape is designed to deter them, but check the plants regularly.
- If it gets very cold, you shouldthe potswrap in fleece and mulch with straw, which you remove in warmer weather.
- You should also keep an eye on your hanging baskets and take them down and store them in a sheltered location when storms are forecast.
Fall and winter can be very dry, so you'll need to water and feed the plants regularly until they go dormant in the dead of winter.
Top tip: Don't overwater plants, especially if you're using peat-free compost, which may look dry on top but is soggy beneath the surface. The symptoms of waterlogging are similar to those of drought - yellowed, wilted leaves - so in this case you should stop watering and, if possible, repot the plants in fresh compost to which grit or perlite has been added to improve drainage.
Gardening in October: Take cuttings from hardwood
Plant cuttings are one of the most reliable methods of propagating deciduous trees and shrubs, including soft fruit bushes and roses. If they are removed now and grown either in a pot or in the ground, it will take up to a year for them to take root, but then they will grow into robust young plants.
Hardwood cuttings are taken in the fall when the plants are dormant and their wood is mature and hardened so that it can withstand cold weather. They can be removed at any time until late winter unless there is a severe frost. If you only have a fewTake cuttings, you can pot these in a mixture of seeds and cutting soil mixed with grit or perlite. Alternatively, you can place the cuttings in a sand-lined trench in a sheltered area of the garden, where they can remain undisturbed for the next 12 months.
Top tip: If you are rooting hardwood cuttings in the ground, be sure to check them after frost as the soil around them may have become cracked. In this case, you simply need to tamp down the soil again so that the cuttings are firmly anchored in the ground.
Protect your fruit trees in October
There's an old, tired joke that goes, "What's worse than biting into an apple and discovering a maggot?" The answer, of course, is “half a maggot to spot,” and early fall is the time to take action to avoid that fate befalling you next summer.
Several moths, including the frost moth and the March butterfly, lay their eggs between November and Mayin fruit trees. The wingless females crawl up trunks to lay their eggs on the branches, and the caterpillars hatch in spring when the tender buds open. These voracious caterpillars attack apple, plum, pear and cherry trees, eating leaves, flowers and fruits and severely damaging and weakening the trees, which affects the harvest.
The easiest way to prevent this and protect your flowers and fruit is to place sticky fat bands around the trunks in October and November to catch the females as they crawl upwards. Then tie the ribbon together at the top and bottom using the included string. This anchors the band securely and prevents moths from crawling up underneath.
Make your own leaf mold in autumn
Each season has its own tasks, and another important October gardening task is clearing leaves to produce one of the most important raw materials for soil improvement: leaf mold. Learning how to make leaf mold from fallen leaves can improve your garden. Remove leaves from hard surfaces, where they become dangerous and slippery as they decompose, and from lawns, where they can cause grass to yellow and harbor pests and other problems.
Leaves have different properties and decompose at different rates. Beech, oak and hornbeam rot the fastest and best. Thicker foliage such as maple, walnut and chestnut take longer to decompose. You can do thatHowever, speed up the process, by shredding it or running it over with a lawn mower before collecting it. Moisten the leaves in a trash bag before setting them aside for a few years to process into leaf mold.
There are two main options for storing foliage. You can build a solid container out of four tree posts wrapped with wire mesh. Or you can get black plastic bags, poke holes in them and stuff them with leaves. Add some water, tie the lids and store them in an inaccessible place. It will take at least two years for the foliage to rot, but the end result is a nutritious, crumbly, dark leaf mold. If it takes longer, turn the leaves occasionally and moisten them during long dry periods.
Top tip: Save fallen pine needles and use them as mulch around plants that like acidic soil, such as azaleas, blueberries and rhododendrons.
Also interesting:14 trees that you shouldn't cut in October
