October is one of the most colourful times of the year. Many flowers are still blooming and the leaves on trees and shrubs are beginning to change to fiery colours like red, yellow and orange.
It’s a good time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials as the soil still has some warmth which will help to get them established. Try and get evergreens planted by the end of the month. Evergreen shrubs provide structure and form to the garden throughout the year, but many produce early displays of flowers followed by autumn berries.
Berry-bearing trees and shrubs come into their own this month, creating colourful displays that can last well into winter. From elder berries to rose hips, crab apples to pyracantha, the addition of berrying plants adds a new dimension to the garden and provides home grown food for hungry birds and wildlife. Don’t let the spines put you off buying pyracantha because they provide valuable nesting sites for birds and their flowers also attract bees. You could also explore the Cotoneaster family – attractive ornamental shrubs with year-round appeal that make an excellent choice for low borders or can be trained up to cover bare fences.
For a lot of gardeners October is a tidy-up month, getting plants and containers ready for winter and you can liven up a patio or balcony with an autumn colour-themed pot planted out with winter pansies and heathers mixed with foliage plants with lots of impact such as purple-leaved Bugle (Ajuga reptans ‘Burgundy Glow’) and glossy Harts Tongue Fern (Asplenium scolopendrium).
In addition to creating colourful containers, if there’s one job to be done this month it’s to …autumn prune bush or shrub roses by between one-third and a half to reduce the risk of wind rock damage in windy weather which can loosen roots. Cut the whole plant back with secateurs to the same height. You can also check rose bushes for dead stems and cut these back to healthy growth. It’s easy to notice
dead stems now while leaves are still on the plant, because dead stems will be bare. Using loppers or secateurs cut back to clean green or if the whole stem is dead cut back to where it started its growth.
For fruit and veg growers, now it the time …. to clear away crops that have finished and add them to the compost heap. You can protect the soil by mulching with a layer of your own compost, which will also improve the soil ready for next year. Now is a good time to plant any pot-grown fruit and place orders for bare-root stock to plant in the winter. You can also plant out spring cabbages, finish planting autumn onion sets for cropping next summer and plant garlic cloves.
Some of the other garden jobs for October suggested by the RHS are:
· Move tender plants into a greenhouse or indoors
· Move or plant trees and shrubs
· Cut back perennials that have died down
· Divide herbaceous perennials such as hosta and iris
· Divide established rhubarb crowns to create new plants
· Harvest apples, pears, grapes and nuts
· Prune climbing roses
· Finish collecting seeds from the garden to sow next year
· Last chance to mow lawns and trim hedges in mild areas
