Is your garden prepped and ready for the season? October is here and it’s time to make sure every tree, shrub and crop is pruned and protected – get one step ahead with our top gardening jobs for this month.
Sally Petitt is head of horticulture at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. So, it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about gardening. Below, she has shared her top 6 must-do gardening jobs for this month, to help your plants thrive into autumn and winter.
1. Get planting
Plant trees and shrubs and hardy perennials once the soil is wet, but ensure you keep them moist over winter.
2. Sow the seeds
Sow seed of perennial plants such as Astrantia, Achillea and Centranthus.
3. Apply manure
Apply green manure to protect soil over winter and sow hardy crops such as broad beans and peas for harvesting in late spring.
4. Prep your greenhouse
Clean your greenhouse and cold frame ready for overwintering tender perennials.
5. Make some mulch
Collect fallen leaves from the garden and add them to your compost bin or make a leaf litter bin for mulching the garden when the leaves have rotted down.
6. Improve drainage
Spike compacted lawns and backfill the holes with fine grit or sand to improve drainage.
After a long summer of droughts and heatwaves, discover what changes you can expect to see in your garden this autumn.