October: Embracing the Beauty of Autumn in Your Garden
As October graces us with its presence, our gardens undergo a magical transformation. It's a time when nature paints the landscape with a vibrant palette of autumnal hues—buttery golds and fiery reds that create a breathtaking spectacle.
With the summer season coming to a close and the year entering its final chapter, it's the perfect moment to plan for the colder, wetter weather and the inevitable frosts. While the nights may be growing longer, there's still plenty you can do to ensure your garden thrives during the impending chilly months. Let's explore how in our comprehensive guide.
Plants
Autumn serves as nature's opportune moment to prepare for the coming year. The weather remains mild, and the soil is ripe and moist. Now is the ideal time to plant roses, trees, climbers, and hardy shrubs. When planting, remember to enrich the soil with fertilizer to encourage robust root growth and healthy establishment before the cold weather arrives.
Don't forget to continue planting spring bulbs like daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, and crocuses. These cheerful blooms will provide a welcome burst of color after the long, dark winter months. Our Terracotta Pots make for the perfect planters for your Spring bulbs.
Autumn is also the perfect season to start sowing flowers for spring. By planting hardy annuals now, you'll have the advantage of earlier, sturdier, and more robust plants.
Self Watering Planters offer a wonderful way to infuse your garden with autumnal splendor. Consider adding bedding plants like violas, cyclamen, heather, and pansies, complemented by the contrasting foliage of ivy or heuchera. This combination will create a stunning display while the rest of your garden takes its seasonal rest.
Lawncare
October marks the prime time for laying turf, as the soil retains warmth from summer and benefits from the moisture of autumn rains. Your lawn will require minimal mowing during this period, so take the opportunity to scarify it by raking out dead grass and accumulated moss from the summer.
Leaving fallen leaves on your lawn can be detrimental to the grass blades, as it limits the sunlight they need to develop winter hardiness. Make sure to rake the leaves and use them for leaf mulch.
If your lawn has become compacted over the year, gently aerate it using a garden fork. Follow this with a high-potassium feed to supply the nutrients needed for winter survival.
Don't forget to store your garden tools in our Tool Shed!
Grow Your Own
Autumn offers ample opportunities for planting, including salad leaves, onions, spring onions, carrots, broad beans, and peas. Give them a strong start with high-quality seed compost and protect them with fleece as temperatures drop.
Consider planting fruit bushes like raspberries and blackcurrants this month to ensure a bountiful harvest next summer. Fruit trees can also be planted while the soil retains warmth, promising an abundance of blossoms come spring.
The colder weather need not impede your kitchen herb garden. Continue cultivating chives, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, and mint on a sunny windowsill, ensuring a continuous supply throughout the winter. Our Kitchen Herbs planter is the perfect pot for growing numerous herbs.
Wildlife
As the weather cools, extend a helping hand to garden birds by supplementing their diet with seed mix, fat balls, and mealworms. Position your bird feeders and birdhouses near tall shrubs, fences, or mature trees to offer protection from predators. Explore our collection of Bird Feeders to help our little friends during the cooler weather.
Berry-bearing plants such as pyracantha and cotoneaster also contribute to the welfare of birds during the winter months.
Explore our Wildlife collection here.
Maintenance
October is a call to tidy up your garden. Trim back the summer growth and consider planting some of your cuttings in pots for the upcoming year. Remove dead plant foliage and leaves from flower borders, containers, and vegetable plots.
As we approach the year's end and the warmth of summer days wanes, it becomes crucial to protect sensitive plants. Some may not survive the harsh winter, so either bring them indoors or shield them with horticultural fleece.
We also recommend mulching your garden with bark chippings or slate. This helps retain soil moisture, inhibits weed growth, and safeguards your plant roots.
If you don't plan to use your garden furniture during the winter months, store it in your shed or garage. If it must remain outdoors, cover it with plastic sheeting to shield it from the elements.
With these tips and tasks in mind, you can make the most of the splendid autumn season in your garden and ensure its health and beauty well into the winter ahead.
