October Gardening Guide
I completely deleted and fully restarted this months gardening guide. You see, I’d started writing and it wasn’t until I picked it up again the following day that I realised I’d started this whole October guide by moaning. And, really, who wants to read that?
Upon reading my moan and swiftly deleting that garbage, I decided I should take a break and have a walk around my garden to reset my mind. I took a better look at the mass of self seeded ‘weeds’ that I’d spotted from my kitchen window yesterday and found that they were, in fact, self seeded Nigella volunteers from the flowers that were growing in that patch this summer. Just a little thinning out and they’ll be a lovely little community of plants next year. I paused at the indecently tall aster that’s half flopping over, needing more support, and noticed all the honey bees from a neighbours beehive buzzing around the flowers. I crouched to notice the perfectly formed pansy flower that I’d planted up a few weeks ago to add in a little winter colour to my porch. I simply had a positive attitude.
I read an article yesterday (aka watched a TikTok) in which a woman began by listing ‘facts’ about herself – along the lines of being 30, recently moved back in with her parents, all the progress in her 20’s being wasted and having to start all over again. Once she finished this description, she immediately switched around and changed the viewpoint of all of those ‘facts’ about herself. She explained that she’d recently turned 30 having been out to celebrate with her lovely group of friends, she’d been lucky enough to be able to save money by moving in with her parents whilst she got her new business up and running and that she was so excited to be able to put everything she’d learned about herself in her 20s towards building the future she could only ever have dreamed of. All that change from one narrative to another was simply perspective.
Now I’m not one for all of that forced, toxic positivity by any means. When things are bad, you need to acknowledge it, feel bad for yourself and process it. However, noting the small positives you come across each day can make the world of difference to your overall mindset and mood. Forget about those failed pumpkin plants and appreciate the peachy snapdragons that are continuing to flower strongly well into October.
With the winter months approaching, it does help to give yourself a little boost of positivity by getting a lovely autumn/winter planter by your front door. You can visit my Winter Planter guide for a couple of ideas of what to plant in your pots. I’m a huge advocate for choosing perennials for planters because I like gardening to be easy. Do I want to plant up the same pot twice every year? No. Do I want to pay for bedding plants twice every year? Also no. I’d much rather invest in a few fantastic perennials/evergreens that’ll grow happily in the pot for a few years and then can be transplanted out into my garden once they’ve outgrown the pot. A much better investment and loads less hassle in my eyes. Of course, annuals have their place in my own garden and if you love potting up planters that’s fantastic, I’m not trying to rain on your parade at all.
For the ‘shady planter’ option in my Winter Planter guide, having planted it up around November time in 2023, here it is looking delightful earlier this year and is starting to shine again now, with the hellebore buds starting to emerge ready for a beautiful winter display for the second year running. All I’ve done since planting is water during the year and feed a few times with seaweed feed.
You may already have your planters situated for this year, so here are a few other things you can be getting on with in your garden this month instead…
Leave the leaves
Just be mindful that each fallen leaf in your garden could be some bedding for the hibernating animals in your local area. What’s cuter than imagining your leaves being used by a hedgehog to snuggle into this winter?
Harvest your pumpkins
Ensure to gather up your pumpkins and squashes before the first frost. If they’re to be stored, ensure you leave a good long stalk attached as that will help them keep better. Brush off any soil and leave them in the sun for a few days to let the skin dry a little.
Think about your hedging and tree needs now
Ordering bare root trees, hedging and fruit bushes now will be much cheaper than buying potted versions in spring. Get them ordered and planted over the winter so that they have their roots in the ground ready to get going for the spring. You’ll have a wider variety available to you, too.
Plant up your rhubarb
I’m a huge lover of rhubarb in borders, using it as an ‘edimental’ – the vast leaves provide a lovely contrast to many other much smaller foliage plants surrounding it. You can buy rhubarb ‘bare root’ now, too, just ensure you feel for the shoot buds which need to be planted upwards in the planting hole. Dig a nice bit of organic matter into the hole before placing the rhubarb crown in and firm the soil around it.
Tidy up your pots
If you have pots that aren’t going to be used over the winter, now’s a good time to get them tidied up and popped aside. I’m a bugger for leaving pots out and am trying to be more mindful of the aesthetics of the garden during the winter. The winter garden may not be your main focus of the year but when those sunny winter days hit, you want to enjoy being out in your garden and having a tidy space (in relation to planters) will definitely help.
Get those bulbs planted
If you’ve been prepared and got your bulbs ordered, you can get on with planting them. Tulips are the only ones I’d wait to plant until the colder weather hits – usually November can be a safe month for them. This is to prevent the ‘tulip fire’ disease setting in which won’t do anything good for your display in the spring. Waiting until the weather is colder usually helps against that. For pretty much all other spring flowering bulbs you don’t need to worry about that and can get them in as soon as you fancy.
Leave flowerheads on hydrangeas for winter protection
This goes for quite a lot of plants, whether it be for the protection of the plant or the visual appeal and structure that flower heads provide. I’m a huge romantic and find the view of frost glittering on seed heads in the winter sun to be magical (and much better than empty borders).
Divide Stachys
Also known as Lambs Ears, Stachys byzantina is a big favourite of mine. I love when planting can provide more than just visual interest, and Stachys is one of those plants that provide a sensory appeal too. The feel of the furry silver leaves is delightful when sitting or wandering through your garden so more is more in my opinion. Slice out a clump or a few clumps from the main plant, depending on the size, and plant up the new divisions immediately into their new home.
Whether you’re carving pumpkins or hiding with the lights off for Halloween, I hope you have a lovely one.