Gardening Tips for October
and tall roses can be cut back by half to prevent them being knocked about by winds, but keep serious pruning until the spring.
Autumn is well and truly here by now and this means loads of falling leaves unfortunately. Keep them raked up and add them to your compost heap. By shredding them or running the mower over them they will rot down more quickly. Don’t add any diseased leaves. Once well rotted down use the compost as a mulch to improve your soil, keep weeds down and moisture in.
Cut back perennials unless they have interesting seed heads and add these to the compost heap, but be careful not to add perennial weeds such as bindweed or ripe weed seeds as most domestic compost heaps will not get hot enough to kill them off. Perennials can also be split or moved now. Leave dahlias and cannas until the frost has blackened the leaves or until they have fi nished fl owering. They should be lifted then and stored in a frost-free place until spring.
It is an ideal time to plant new shrubs, trees and plants as well as hedges. Finish planting up winter bedding and bulbs, though tulips should be left until November ideally. Avoid feeding plants as it will encourage soft growth which will be damaged by cold weather. Keep camellias and rhododendrons watered to prevent bud drop. Tall buddleia davidii
A serious problem for anyone growing fuchsias is a new bug called fuchsia gall mite. It is a minute thing, which causes the leaves and fl owers to become very distorted. It is spreading rapidly and there is no spray at the moment that can treat it. It seems to appear around August on previously healthy plants. The experts recommend digging up and burning any affected plants, especially if you have a lot of fuchsias. You could prune plants hard, removing most of the leaves, but the mites may still be in the bark and next August will reappear. If pruning, clean secateurs thoroughly afterwards. Unfortunately the mites seem to stay in the soil making it diffi cult to replant except in pots. You can look at the website of the British Fuchsia Society for pictures of diseased plants and a possible way of treating it.
Divide rhubarb crowns if they have become too big and perhaps are not growing well, they will appreciate some well rotted manure or at least some good compost. Dig over any empty vegetable garden roughly and it will break down over the winter. If you have a weed problem, cover an area with old carpet or thick black plastic to keep out the light. Plant autumn onion sets and over wintering broad beans for an early spring crop. If you are storing apples, keep an eye on them and use up any that begin to rot.
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