Now that autumn is here it’s time to prepare the garden for the coming winter and next spring as well. As they die down perennials need to be cut back, except for the sedums, asters and rudbeckias, which should still be in full flower. Plants with interesting seed heads are best left untouched and pentstemmons should be dead-headed only. Tender perennials should be lifted before the frosts begin and dahlia tubers should be dug up and stored in a frost-free place. Once cleared, the borders can be mulched with manure or organic compost. The plant material removed will make good compost for future years. Put all garden ‘clippings’ on to the compost heap and add a little Garotta to speed up the rotting process.
In the vegetable garden, potatoes and root crops should be lifted and put into store. Start digging as soon as possible adding farmyard manure as you go. Manure can be obtained in bags from the garden centre or delivered loose from some of our local farmers. Now is the time to harvest fruit. Shrubs, such as Buddleia, should be pruned and lavender gently trimmed. Keep up the regular spraying of roses until leaf fall and give hedges their final cut.
Bulbs are ready for planting now and there are plenty to choose from. Daffodils can be planted in the garden, in bowls for the house or they can be ‘naturalised’ in grassed areas. Tulips and hyacinths look good planted in the flower borders and miniature bulbs are ideals for adding early spring colour to the rock garden. Make sure you use prepared hyacinths for early flowering in bowls. Spring flowering bedding plants such as wallflowers, Canterbury Bells, Myosotis and Sweet Williams are ready for planting now and so too are the winter-flowering pansies. polyanthus and primroses. Winter hanging baskets can be prepared using trailing ivies, Lamium, Nepeta and Lysimachia to set off the lowering plants. A mixture of plants and bulbs can be used for tubs and containers.
Early October is now considered to be the best time to tackle persistent weeds such as bindweed, ground elder and Japanese knotweed, by spraying Glysophate, Tumbleweed or Roundup on to the leaves just before the plants die down for the winter.Lawns will need to be aerated and scarified and a good autumn lawn fertilizer should be applied to set them up for the winter. After a final mow, it would be wise to arrange for the lawn mower to be serviced so that it will be ready for use as soon as the grass starts to grow in spring. Finally, enjoy all the berries and autumn colour on the trees and shrubs which makes October such a special month in the garden.
Terry Simmonds