Gardening jobs in October: 40 things to do in your garden this month

Despite October bringing with it shorter days and a chill in the air, all is not lost when it comes to our gardens. From pruning roses to planting clematis, in many ways, the hard work is only just beginning.

This month can also be incredibly rewarding to see the fruits of our labour come to fruition. With milky cobnuts, hazelnuts and greengages set to ripen, our vegetable patches and supermarket trolleys have never looked so good.

So, to keep on top of your green oasis in the coming weeks, we have compiled a list of jobs to do in your outdoor space right now. Get digging!

What to plant in October

Dreaming of a white Christmas

If you want to be surrounded by scented, flowering daffodils at Christmas, now is the time to start planting. It is always a bit of a hit-and-miss operation, but you greatly increase your chances by buying lots of bulbs and planting a few bulbs a week for the next few weeks. Paperwhites should only take around six weeks from planting to flower.

Hedge your bets

A native hedge is not only brilliantly useful for wildlife, it is beautiful too, an ever-changing patchwork of greens, flowers and berries. This is the perfect time to order and plant a mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, elderberry, dog rose and more. The birds and the bees will thank you.

Rhubarb revival

Revitalise rhubarb. Dig up big old clumps and divide into pieces using a sharp spade, making sure that each division contains a piece of root and a shoot, then discard the old centre. This is also the time to buy and plant new rhubarb crowns.

Sweetpeas in the frame

Sow sweetpeas now in a cold frame or outdoors protected from mice and slugs, and you will have big, strong plants and early flowers next year. Easton Walled Gardens grows and sells a huge range of sweetpeas, including many antique varieties. ‘Queen Alexandra’ was introduced in 1905 and has a scarlet flower with a wonderful scent.

Full of beans

Sow broad beans now for an early crop next year. On my clay soil this is hit and miss, but it is definitely worth sowing now if you have a well-drained soil. You need hardy varieties such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’.

Sow berries

I have a beautiful rowan tree in my front garden, and this is the time to gather and sow a few of the ripe berries in pots of compost to be left outside all winter. The frost will work on them and they will sprout in spring.

Buy plug plants

Forget-me-nots are brilliant spring fillers, and if your garden tends to be bare early in the year you can give it near-instant springy froth with a pack of plug plants planted now. Any spring bulbs can poke up in between.

Fig deal

If you have a productive fig tree, take cuttings now. They should be about a foot long, this year’s growth, with the softer tip removed. Cut the tip-end at an angle so you know which end is up then insert cuttings into a trench of well-drained soil.

Festive dazzler

Hippeastrum (or amaryllis) will flower six weeks after planting, so pot now for Christmas blooms. I like pure white for Christmas, such as ‘Ludwig Dazzler’. Plant into pots just larger than the bulb, with two thirds of the bulb above the surface.

Plant clematis

Autumn is the best time to plant clematis, giving them a chance to establish their roots in cool, moist soil before they are required to perform. I have my eye on the unusual Clematis rehderiana, which has pale yellow, spring-scented, bell-shaped flowers.

Grow garlic

Order and plant garlic now and into winter. The bulbs need cold in order to separate into cloves. ‘Picardy Wight’ originates in northern France, so it is better suited to our cooler and wetter growing conditions than some.

Bright berries

Berries are looking wonderful now, but if your garden is bereft this is also the time to plant berrying shrubs. Cotoneaster lacteus is a beauty, with larger leaves than most and big bright berries and can be trained as a tree or hedge.

Send a smoke signal

Cotinus (smoke bush) are brilliant small trees for vibrant and small-scale autumn colour. ‘Lilla’ is a new dwarf introduction that is particularly suited to small gardens. Foliage is wine purple all summer and then turns shades of orange, yellow and red in autumn.

Move evergreens

Move evergreen plants now, if you must: growth is slow now and they have the maximum amount of time to mend severed roots before spring growth begins. Water well on replanting, and revisit and water during any dry spells.

What to harvest in October

Store squash

Winter squash and pumpkins should be harvested now and will need to be stored in a frost-free place. In the warmth of a kitchen they may not last long, so keep them in a cool shed or porch and you will be eating them until spring.

Good apple

‘Allington Pippin’ is one of the best storage apples to pick now and keep until Christmas.

Cut down peas

Peas and beans can be cut down now, and any beans for drying should be harvested and dried indoors from hereon, or you risk them developing moulds. Chop the growth off at ground level and leave the roots and their nutritious, nitrogen-rich nodules to break down in the soil.

Sort apples

Sort through cooking and eating apples, setting aside the best for storage, and anything bruised or nibbled for eating now. Wrap each perfect one in its own piece of newspaper and pack into airy wooden crates in a shed or cool spot. Periodically check and bring out for eating.

Other jobs to do in the garden in October

Boxing clever

At this time of year I always pat myself on the back for having planted low box hedges several years ago as edges to borders: I can barely see them through the summer but now they give definition and greenery where there is little. A mulch around the base of the hedge shows off the plants to their best and keeps roots cosy and plants healthy.

Move indoors

It is time to stop feeding citrus plants and move them indoors. Kumquats are the hardiest and will be happy at temperatures as low as 7C, but lemons generally need 10C. They will need a greenhouse or porch that has some heat over winter.

Rosy outlook

Pruning roses now helps them to weather winter well. Roughly chop bush roses back by about a third and take out those stems that cross the centre, and anything dead or diseased and you cut down on their wind resistance and make them less likely to get rocked about and incur winter damage. More thoughtful pruning can take place in spring.

Pond life

Pond pumps need to be removed from your pond, drained and stored for winter. Fish can be deprived of oxygen if pond surfaces freeze over later in the year, so float a ball on the surface now, to keep water moving.

Turn to ash

If you have a bonfire to get rid of all of your accumulated allotment prunings and debris, make use of the potash-rich ash. Any ash that is pure wood – no coal or smokeless fuel – is useful on the plot. When it is cool, scatter it around the roots of fruit trees and bushes for great flowering and fruiting next year.

Feed the birds

Buy birdfeeders and bird baths if you are not already fully equipped for your garden birds’ winter needs. It is also time to hang fat balls, as birds need more energy to get them through cold nights.

Acid test

Pine needles and conifer hedge trimmings take much longer to break down than other leaves, and it’s not a bad idea to make them a separate bin, so that you don’t get spiked when reaching into your compost’s depths. After two or three years they will break down to an acidic leaf mould perfect for use around ericaceous plants such as blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.

Need to weed

Once growth in borders has started to die back, go through and root out all of those weeds that escaped your notice during lusher times. This is a good moment to add a layer of mulch, to seal in warmth and to keep your border weed-free.

Sprinkle lime

An application of lime can help unlock nutrients in your vegetable plot soil. Sprinkle it over bare ground now: this way it will have an effect on new growth in spring, but you won’t risk damaging young growth.

Trim for fruit

Prune blackcurrants. They fruit best on younger wood, so take out about a third of the oldest wood, down to the base. Order bare-root bushes for later in autumn. ‘Big Ben’ has large, sweet berries.

Ease the disease

Wherever your plants have struggled with spots and diseases this summer, take care to gather up and dispose of the leaves as they fall. Many problems can overwinter in fallen leaves and leap back up in spring.

Use the fork

These months can reveal hidden problems in your lawn, as rain gathers and pools in compacted places. You can go over such spots with a garden fork, pushing it into the ground to make holes, and then brushing in sharp sand.

Tighten ties

Check tree stakes and ties. They need to be sturdy and tight, or storms will toss young trees around and it will rub and hit against the stake. Even if you think a tree may be ready to do without its stake this is not the time to remove it: wait till spring.

Allotment action

If you have new areas of an allotment to clear, this is a good time to start a “no-dig” bed. Cover the entire area in a good layer of sturdy cardboard and then pile on a thick layer of well-rotted horse manure or compost. By spring it will be ready to plant into.

Guard bananas

Hardy banana Musa basjoo may fail to live up to its name. If you live in a cold area or if yours is young, you will need to protect it with fleece or straw.

Store gladioli

In cooler areas, lift your gladioli corms now that the foliage has turned brown. Break off the foliage and store in a cool and frost-free spot. In warmer areas you can get away with just covering them with a thick mulch.

Cross the pond

Ponds choked with growth and weed can be cleared out now: don’t leave it until spring when pond-dwellers are breeding. Leave anything you remove on to the side of the pond for several days to allow accidental evictees to scramble back in.

Sprout support

Brussels sprouts are tall and top heavy and can be rocked about by the wind. Give them a little support: those suffering from wind rock are more likely to produce soft, blown sprouts. Push a hefty piece of wood such as a piece of hazel into the ground next to each plant and lash them firmly on.

Dry begonias

After their foliage has been blackened by the first frosts, lift and dry out your begonia tubers. After a week or so, brush off the dried soil and then store the tubers in something insulating, such as sawdust or dry sand, in a cool but frost-free spot.

Mark locations

This may be the last chance to mark the locations of perennials as they die down, which is a good idea if you are planting bulbs or doing any moving at all over winter. Even an unlabelled length of bamboo will prevent you from slicing into your scabiosa during a fit of border renovating.

Go mowerless

Spend the autumn and winter planning your new mowerless life. The Scything Handbook by Ian Miller contains all of the information you need to buy, maintain and use a scythe for any grassy area, from a meadow to a lawn.

Compost mix

Everything that grows in the garden can be composted, but if you are cutting back walnut, eucalyptus, laurel and juniper be aware that they are toxic to other plants and so you may be better to leave them out of the general mix.