What to do in the garden in October.

October will generally offer mild weather with the colder night temperatures often making the ground conditions damp and soft, one of the easy times to approach digging!
The Autumn months are some of the most busiest for gardening activity as the temperatures start to fall and many plants are requiring cutting, pruning, trimming back ready for winter. You will also be planning your next years Spring and Summer plants by planting bulbs, bushes and trees which take to the soil type of Autumn which is generally still warm and also very moist. We mustn't forget that Autumn is also a very attractive season to enjoy your garden with stunning colours being offered on many plants and tree foliage.

Remember to pay attention to your grass if you are after a lush green lawn for next year. Remove dead leaves, think about raking away dead grass, moss and any other debris. Another gardening tip for Autumn is to air your lawn by using a pushing a garden fork equally across it's area as this will help to prevent waterlogging and moss building up. Feed your lawn also at this time of the year with lawn soil of specialised feeders.

We like to recommend creating a compost heap to deal with all your garden debris which will simply break down and rot away, returning to nature. We advise not to place a compost heap close to or against walls or trees. Compost heaps are ideal for garden waste to include foliage, grass cuttings, weeds, small branches and even home waste to include veg and fruit, coffee grounds, eggshells, teabags and even paper waste to include cardboard and newspapers. When raking garden debris such as leaves remember that these are good fertilizers so a small sprinkling on your lawn or planting beds will not suffocate what's underneath.

Gardening Tools

There's no doubt that your gardening tools would have had much usage during the year so now is the time to look at sharpening, repairing, services and putting away! Another common thing to forget is the outside tap, that will soon need to be turned off from within your property at the stop cock. If you have enjoyed sitting in your garden during the warm summer months then it is likely you will have garden chairs and table, even though these may have been weathered proofed, it is still advisable to either store them in the dry or cover them.

Wildlife

We must all take time to support and maintain our gardening wildlife which comes in many different varieties. This is the time of year that some animals are seeking a place for hibernation. Setting up a winter bird feeder is also a nice way to entice wildlife in to your garden, ideally set any feeders in front of your favourite window at home to enjoy the activity of species such as robins and blue tits or attract red cardinals with black-oil sunflower seeds.