Autumn is here, the leaves are turning and the ground getting wetter under foot by the day. October sometimes feels like we are on borrowed time before the winter really kicks in. But the autumnal light can be beautiful so catch these days and make the most of them.
Sow/plant:
Sweet peas under cover
Broad beans
Bulbs for spring but wait until November
for tulips
Harvest/Pick:
Apples and store
Last of the autumn raspberries and
blackberries
Save seeds for next year
Dahlias and sunflowers
Kale, squash, last of the courgettes,
tomatoes, cucumbers, salad
Secature/lopper jobs:
Deadheading
Divide and replant perennials
Prune buddlias by half their height
Remove beans and supports but
leave the roots in to add nitrogen to the
soil
Remove yellow brussel sprout leaves
Cut down fruited blackberry and
blackberry canes and tie in new growth
Cut down dahlias once flowering over to
lift or leave and mulch
Cut back tall asparagus foliage once
yellow
Lawns and ponds:
Aerate and feed with an autumn feed
Raise the cutting height
Keep clearing leaves out of ponds
Start collecting up the leaves for making leafmould!