October garden jobs

October is a busy month for gardeners and there is always lots of jobs to be getting on with around the garden. It’s a time to start preparations for the new gardening year and also a time to harvest the last of this season’s fruit and vegetables.

Plant spring flowering bulbs such as daffodil, crocus, snowdrops and alliums. The general rule is to plant the bulbs three times their depth.

Cooking apples such as ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ are ready to harvest this month. When picked they should leave the tree easily. Apart from being a great tasting cooking apple, it also stores well and is kept cool and dry should last until early next spring.

Now is the time to plant hanging baskets and containers for autumn and winter colour. At this time of the year garden centres have good stocks of winter flowering pansies, trailing ivies, heather and s=dwarf evergreens that will provide colour and interest for many months.

Plant Japanese onion sets into the garden spacing the small bulbs approximately 15cm (6inches) apart with the tip of the bulb just below ground level. The onions will start into growth very quickly and over-winter without any problems.

If you haven’t already done it, feed your lawn with an autumn lawn fertiliser that is high in phosphate and potash and low in nitrogen to build the lawn up before winter.