10 Jobs To Do In The Garden In October

We have been blessed with a gloriously warm and sunny September, but autumn is stealthily asserting itself. Leaves are starting to turn and fall, nights are drawing in and mornings growing ever chillier, so it’s time to dust down your rakes, carry on harvesting and gird your garden’s loins in readiness for the first frosts. Here are 10 things that you should be doing this month to prepare your garden for its big winter sleep.

1.       Keep on mowing (the grass just keeps on growing) and get your lawn ready for winter by scarifying, aerating and feeding. If your lawn is big, concentrate your efforts on the areas that receive little or no winter sunlight and are most prone to moss.

2.       Sow grass seed in bare patches, and maybe scatter some meadow seed mix in a corner or two to give nature a boost next spring and give yourself a good excuse to leave some areas of your garden unmown once the spring grass growing frenzy commences.

3.       Regularly clear up fallen leaves (as with so many things in life, little and often is so much better) and start your pile of leaf-mould. Tempting though it may be to put off the job of raking until the last of the leaves have fallen, you will regret the brown patches that will be set to last well into next spring.

4.       Harvest apples, pears and nuts from the trees and pumpkins, carrots and other root veg from the ground, storing carefully to ensure supplies of your lovingly nurtured crops last well into the winter months.

5.       Plant out your spring cabbages and asparagus crowns and sow your broad beans: put in more than you feel you might need as you may lose some if it gets very chilly. You can always thin them out, come the spring, if we have a mild winter.

6.       After a summer's vigorous growth, it is a good idea to give your shrubs a light prune in the autumn to keep them in shape. Climbing roses need a relatively robust pruning.

7.       Cut back your perennials, such as geraniums and day lilies, and divide those that have enjoyed a vigorous growth spurt this summer while the ground is still warm enough for them to re-root.

8.       Move your tender plants and ceramic pots into the green house or conservatory before the frosts begin.

9.       Think about lighting up your garden once it reawakens from its hibernation. Sow sweet peas and plant snowdrop and daffodil bulbs before the soil loses its retained summer warmth: leave your tulips though as they prefer to be planted in cooler ground and are happy to go in as late as the end of November.

10.   Sit back in your Garden Escape and either cool yourself down with a refreshing cold drink or warm your hands on a mug of steaming tea, depending on the weather in this month typified by erratic temperature swings. And feast your eyes on the beauty of autumn’s brilliant display of shifting colours and the sight of your garden’s wildlife busily making their own preparations for winter.