October marks the transition into the heart of autumn, bringing with it cooler temperatures and shorter days. While your garden might be slowing down, there’s still plenty to do to prepare for the winter months ahead. Here’s a list of essential October gardening tasks to keep your garden healthy over autumn and winter to get ready for the next growing season.

Preparing Flowers for Autumn

• Divide Herbaceous Perennials: Now is the perfect time to divide and replant herbaceous perennials to keep them vigorous and promote healthy growth. Before replanting, enrich the soil with compost to give them the best start.
• Lift Tender Bulbs: Lift and store Dahlias, Cannas, Begonias, and Gladioli. Clean them, remove dead foliage, and store them in a frost-free shed or garage for winter protection.
• Prune Rambling Roses: Once your Rambling Roses have finished flowering, prune back the flowered wood and tie in any new growth to prepare for next season.
• Cut Back Overhanging Plants: Tidy up plants that are overhanging pathways to keep your garden looking neat and accessible.
• Tidy and Mulch Borders: Clear up your borders, especially around tender plants. Mulch slightly tender plants to protect them from the colder temperatures that are on their way.
• Move Tender Plants Indoors: Bring any tender plants inside, either to a greenhouse or conservatory, to protect them from frost.
• Reuse Spent Compost: Don’t throw away spent compost from pots and bedding plants. Use it as a mulch on your flowerbeds to add organic matter back into the soil.

Preparing Vegetables for Autumn

• Plant: Get a head start on next year’s crops by planting Spring Cabbage plants, overwintering Onions, and Garlic now.
• Sow: Towards the end of the month, sow Aquadulce Claudia or Sutton Broad Beans directly into the soil or in modules. These will crop in spring but be sure to protect them from mice and slugs.
• Clear Out Tomato Plants: By the end of October, it’s time to clear out your tomato plants. Any green tomatoes can still be ripened on a windowsill or turned into delicious chutney.
• Harvest: Now is the time to harvest leeks, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, radish, spring onions, chard, carrots, beetroot, turnips, spinach, and herbs.
• Pumpkins and Squashes: Harvest pumpkins and squashes before the first frost. Cure them in a warm room to harden the skins before storing them in a cool, frost-free place.
• Continue Picking Summer Crops: You may still have some beans, marrows, and courgettes to pick, so continue harvesting until they are finished.
• Store Root Vegetables: Carrots and beetroot can be lifted and stored in damp sand or old compost in a cold shed. Be sure to trim back the leaves before storage.
• Reuse Grow Bags: Instead of discarding old grow bags, plant them with winter salad crops. Adding a bit of Growmore or chicken manure will help nourish the soil.
• Check Stored Vegetables: Keep an eye on stored vegetables for any signs of rot, and dispose of them promptly to prevent spoilage.
• Prepare Beds for Winter: Start digging over beds, adding manure while the soil is still workable. Consider covering the ground to prevent winter rain from leaching away nutrients. You can also sow green manures like mustard or ryegrass to improve soil structure and suppress weeds.

Preparing Fruit for Autumn

• Cut Down Summer Raspberry Canes: If you haven’t already, cut down the fruited canes of summer raspberries and tie in new canes for next year’s crop.
• Divide Rhubarb: Every three to four years, divide your Rhubarb roots. Replant them with plenty of manure as a mulch to keep them healthy and productive.
• Overwinter Citrus Trees: Bring Citrus trees into a frost-free conservatory or greenhouse to overwinter. Start feeding them with Citrus winter food and reduce watering.
• Continue Harvesting: October is the last call for harvesting apples, pears, quinces, grapes, and nuts. Make sure to pick the remaining fruits before gales arrive at the end of the month.
• Pick Autumn Raspberries: If the weather is still mild, you may get a few more autumn raspberries to enjoy.
• Remove Netting: Take netting off fruit cages to allow birds to pick off any pests lurking in the plants.

General Garden Maintenance in October

• Lawn Care: You can continue to mow the lawn if the weather stays dry, but make sure to set your mower blades higher. Don’t forget to edge the lawn and rake out thatch to improve aeration.
• Clear Leaves: Sweep up fallen leaves and compost them to make leaf mould, a valuable soil conditioner. Dispose of diseased leaves in the bin to prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
• Protect Half-Hardy Plants: Cover half-hardy plants with fleece or bring them into a frost-free conservatory. Be sure to check for pests before moving them indoors.
• Prepare Your Greenhouse: Set up the greenhouse heater for those chilly autumn nights.
• Trim Evergreen Hedges: Give evergreen hedges a final trim early in the month to tidy them up before winter.
• Plant Bare-Root Trees and Hedges: Once leaves have dropped, it’s the ideal time to plant bare-rooted hedges and trees or move any trees and shrubs that need relocating.

Visit Love Plants for Expert Advice and Supplies

For all your autumn gardening needs, from compost and mulch to frost protection fleece, visit Love Plants at Salop Leisure in Shrewsbury. Our expert team is ready to help you prepare your garden for the colder months ahead. Come in today and get everything you need to keep your garden in top shape this October!