As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, October offers a great opportunity for your garden. With an abundance of rainfall, it's the perfect time to prune, plant, and prepare.
With the last of the summer harvests picked and packed away, it’s time to finally embrace the change of weather. And while there might be a little less to do in the garden, there’s still plenty of October gardening jobs to get ticked off your list.
Tidy Up and Compost
October’s rise in leaf fall serves as a helpful reminder that it’s time to tidy up in the garden. Foliage, excess cuttings, and dead (but not diseased) plant should be cleared away and added to the compost. Give your greenhouse a thorough clean, along with any pots and gardening tools. This will prevent plant disease from overwintering. Water butts will also benefit from a water-clearing treatment to prevent unpleasant smells.
At this time of year, rainfall and frost may start to affect the consistency of your compost. Continue adding dead leaves and plant matter to improve the nutrition, and remember our essential tips to keep your compost healthy.
If you aren’t already composting, now is the perfect time to start. Read our guide to 5 composting methods that any gardener can try. There’s something for everyone. Whether you’re short on growing space or prefer low-maintenance gardening.
Harvesting Crops
Now is your last chance to harvest your remaining summer vegetables such as courgettes, sweetcorn, and tomatoes. Meanwhile, there should be an abundance of seasonal favourites like pumpkins and squash.
Ensure that once harvested, your squash is stored correctly, and you'll be able to make use of them throughout autumn. They make great additions to soups, traybakes, and pies.
Soil Preparation
Before you start planting, take time to consider the health of your soil. The growing season can put a real strain on soil and compost, so adding a soil conditioner as part of your October gardening routine will strengthen your garden, not only for now but also for the seasons ahead, ensuring it thrives through spring and summer.
Planting
October is the prime time to sow overwintering crops with the hopes of being greeted with late spring and early summer harvests. Bulbs are a great choice for planting now, with options available for both vegetable and flower gardeners.
For vegetable gardens
Plant autumn garlic cloves and onion bulbs. Prepare the ground or containers with well-draining soil to prevent the plants from being waterlogged.
Once planted, apply a natural fertiliser to give them a kick start. Envii Seafeed Xtra is an organic seaweed fertiliser that will improve plant root development and crop yield.
In flower gardens
Try planting a diverse range of tulip, iris, and daffodil bulbs for the ample display of colours come March and April. Originating from warmer environments, tulips and daffodils require a lot of daily sunlight, so be sure to plant them in a sunny area. Again, like the garlic and onions, keep your flower bulbs well-drained to prevent rotting in wet soils.
One of our favourite ways to plant bulbs is the lasagne method, where bulbs are planted at different depths to create a vibrant, long-lasting display of colour all spring, with little to no upkeep required.
Reflect
Although the amount of sowing is limited this month, that doesn’t have to be a negative. Put your focus into sowing less but sowing better to set yourself up for success. This post-summer ‘down season’ is the ideal time to reflect on the success and mistakes and think about how to improve for next time around.
Think of October as a promise: every bulb tucked into the ground, every bed tended, every seed sown is a step toward the beauty of spring.
