What to do in the garden in October

By October the garden is looking autumnal, and the weather is capricious. One day it's an Indian summer and the next day frost. In 2019, the north of England had its first frost on the night of 1st/2nd October, so it is easy to be caught out.

If Autumn is mild, veg plants will continue cropping. The image left, taken in October, is of a second crop of Broad beans - how to achieve a late crop of Broad beans. 

 If your garden has deciduous trees, it is worth saving the leaves to make leaf mould, which is an excellent mulch for the garden and when sieved, makes good compost. It is easy to make a pen; just mould chicken wire into a bin with a stake in each corner to give structure. Rake up and pile the leaves in and they will rot down over the gardening year, ready to spread on borders as mulch following winter/spring. You can tell when it's ready, as it will be well rotted and crumbly.   If you have no space, you can store in bin bags, but it is important to put holes in to allow the air, otherwise it will become a slimy mess. 

It is easy to germinate Sweet peas in the Autumn, provided you can overwinter in a frost-free greenhouse/cold frame.  Sweet peas are H2 which means hardy down to -5C.

The advantages of sowing sweet peas in the Autumn is to produce sturdier plants which give a head start and they will flower earlier. Germinate seeds in a warm place using root trainers. Although you can grow sweet peas in cardboard tubes (from toilet rolls) these are not ideal for overwintering because, over time, they will tend to disintegrate. Root trainers are much preferable for the Autumn sown sweet peas. 

 Sow one or two seeds to each pot. Once they have germinated and started growing, harden off on milder days outside, gradually getting the plants acclimatised to the colder weather and bring in under glass before it gets really cold. Sweet Peas are a hardy annual,  to around -5. However, when they are in small containers, like all plants in containers, they are more prone to their roots freezing. For this reason, it is best to overwinter in a greenhouse or cold frame just to keep the worst of the winter weather away from the plants and roots. 

I germinate and grow sweet peas over autumn and winter in the greenhouse under glass. It is important to nip out the growing points to stop them from getting too tall and leggy and to produce more stems. More stems = more flowers. The growing sweet pea page has images showing how to nip out the growth point and how this action makes Sweet pea branch out to create more stems.  Video explaining the benefits of nipping out the growing point on sweet peas. 

 Autumn is the traditional time for planting spring bulbs. Daffodils need to go in first in September and October; Tulips later in November. Timing is important especially for Tulips which need to be planted late.

The correct planting depth is also important to ensure flowering, too shallow and they may not flower after year one. An easy rule of thumb is to plant the bulb 3 times its own depth and you are unsure, plant deeper rather than shallow. Here is a handy Table setting out the planting depths for bulbs.

If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for spring bulbs, check out the Spring bulbs on Pinterest and for more information and planting advice about planting spring bulbs

It is not necessary when planting spring bulbs in containers to use fresh compost. You can re use compost from any end of season containers being cleared out. A bulb is a complete power pack and has everything within the bulb to flower next year and needs no additional nutrients. Read more about using old compost and saving money.

 This is Colchicum autumnale, common name Autumn Crocus, a bulb similar to the familiar Spring variety, but it flowers in the Autumn. It is usually offered for sale in the summer for planting.

The flowers appear first followed by the leaves and they make a lovely splash of colour. It is best planted in July /Augusts into well drained soil. Colchicum are all purple and mauve flowering, but note they are highly poisonous. 

This is a good time to plant winter bedding. The garden centres are full of pansies and violas, and they come home from the garden centre looking lovely but often, after a short while, they seem to sulk, sometimes for the rest of the winter.

This can be because the bedding plants in the garden centre have had a near ideal upbringing, in a temperature-controlled poly tunnel, with just perfect conditions. When we buy the plants they are uprooted and plonked outside in the cold and wet  and the result is a sulk.

A tip is to plant the bedding earlier, in the container in which they are going to spend the winter, and then place the container under glass/in the greenhouse or in a sheltered spot which gives the plants time to get established and put their roots down. Then introduce the gradually to the real outside weather as you would summer bedding. That way the pansies and violas might actually flower through the winter.

Tomatoes will continue to ripen slowly depending on sunshine and warmth levels in Autumn. To take care of tomatoes and encourage fruiting, continue to remove any faded or discoloured leaves to prevent disease. In addition, remove any flowers or tiny tomatoes which, by this stage, are unlikely to come to fruit before the weather changes completely. 

 Eventually, as light and warmth get less, you will need to cut your losses and bring the tomatoes inside somewhere warm ripen. Sometimes it's difficult to get these late tomatoes to ripen. A fool proof way to ripen tomatoes is to cut them on the vine and then place on a warm window sill, sunny porch or conservatory in a dish or on cardboard and leave to ripen; they will and it works. More information on a fool proof way to ripen tomatoes. There is no need for green chutney unless you like it.  

Although you can dry chillies I think the best way to save them and deal with the inevitable glut is to free them.

You can freeze them whole but I think they defrost better and are easier to use if they are chopped and froze. A sort of gardeners Lazy Chillies

In early to mid-autumn, Garlic and Onions can be planted to overwinter in the plot and get a head start on spring next year. In particular, Garlic benefits from a chilly spell of at least a month good cold weather for the bulbs to mature. Plant in autumn if your soil is not too heavy or waterlogged, alternatively plant into containers and overwinter outside if your soil is prone to water logging.

Plant in the usual way in autumn as in the spring, albeit it slightly differently for onions and garlic, with both take care not to damage the base by pushing into the soil too hard. The roots sprout from this point. It is better to use a trowel or dibber. Keep a few spares to replace those which the pigeons will inevitably steal.