What does mid October in the garden bring to the gardeners among us? We gather in harvest of fruits and seeds, watch leaves turn from green to red and burnt orange. Days may be surpassingly warm or distinctly damp; but night time is chill.

One can mourn the passing of summer, be impatient for frosty winter; or, my preferred option, enjoy this season for its own special and surprising combinations.

My own garden is full of flowers for pollinating insects. Most of the apples have been picked, but there are still squash and runner beans to mature. I love the contrast of glowing living colours against fading annuals ready for the compost heap.

There’s much to do in the garden and yet I still linger with a cup of coffee and idly make plans for winter, lulled by the warmth of mid-afternoon. Tomorrow may bring bulb planting, a muddy job if it rains overnight. But still I linger, enjoying the aroma of October. As my eyes wander past the puppy trying to convince the cat to play, I spot late raspberries, ripe for picking, a teatime treat. If I can resist eating the jewel coloured fruit as I pick them that is!

 

Mid October in the Garden – Planting Design Ideas

For me, mid October in the garden brings ideas for brightly coloured planting designs sparked by flashing fireworks on Bonfire Night; whilst Hallowe’en brings ideas for edible gardens. If you would like a new look to your edible garden or ornamental garden, ask how we can help.

 

Planting Design Ideas – Flowers and Ornamentals

Whether you’d like a purple colour scheme in autumn or a yellow one, there are herbaceous plants and shrubs out there to meet your need.

A formal design with evergreen hedging of Box or aromatic Rosemary gives you a good framework all year. Filled with shrubs that will flower from May to the first frosts gives you luscious blooms and, in many cases, an easy maintenance garden. For a sunny, sheltered spot, shrubby Salvias do well. bi-coloured Salvia ‘Hotlips’ has been popular for some years, but why not try a single coloured flower? Salvia ‘Royal bumble’ is a rich red, whereas Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’ is a regal purple.

 

Planting Design Ideas – Edible Gardens

Contrary to popular opinion, Halloween is not just about pumpkins and apples. Turnips were the traditional vegetable used for Jack o’ lantern faces before the coming of the squash family from the newly discovered Americas. Much as I love the squash family, they do take up a lot of room in the kitchen garden. If you’re looking for a solution, here are a couple of planting ideas –

Make use of vertical space
Add trellis and frames for squash to scramble up; either along a fence or free-standing. This is more suited to the smaller fruited varieties but can make a really decorative feature.
In a small space where you may only want to grow one or two squash plants, an obelisk makes an excellent support and can easily sit in your ornamental border if you’re out of room in the vegetable patch!.

Grow them under your fruit trees
Do you grow spring flowering bulbs under your fruit trees and then have bare earth? Why not grow your squash here where they have plenty of room to roam.
A low frame around the base of the tree would enable a bit of scrambling by the squash without them climbing all the way up the tree. The large leaves of the Cucurbit family mean they enjoy the dappled shade the fruit tree provides.

 

Mid October in the Garden – Gardening Tasks

Making plans for winter is one thing, but there are plenty of gardening tasks to be done during mid October in the garden. Here are a few; for more, you could ask to receive our monthly eNews.

Gardening Tasks – Ornamentals

In the ornamental border, remove stakes and other non-decorative supports as herbaceous plants die down for the winter. That way you won’t spike yourself when you lean in to clear dead leaves.

Cut back border perennials that have died down unless they have attractive stems or seed heads which might be a source of food for birds. The stems of some perennials can also offer a place for garden wildlife such as frogs and toads to hide during the winter. As gardeners we really need to encourage these slug-munchers to stay in our gardens.

 

3 Gardening Tasks – Kitchen Garden

Do you like garlic? Not only will it keep away any vampires at Halloween, but it’s good for helping you to fight off colds and flu due to its anti-viral properties. This is the time of year to be planting garlic for a good crop next year. Free draining soil is advisable, so the garlic bulbs don’t rot in a wet winter soil. Plant it in rows in your vegetable garden, in blocks in a raised vegetable bed or even amongst your roses – it keeps them healthy too.

 

Winter Squashes, ie pumpkins and marrows, should be ready for harvesting now. Although they store well for use through to March, they need curing in a warm place first.
Cut them away from the plant with a small length of stem attached and leave in the sun (!) or in a warm dry shed or greenhouse if the weather is wet. Make sure there is plenty of air around them. When the skin has hardened the fruit will sound hollow when tapped. Then they’re ready to be stored in a dry, cool but frost-free place.

 

Gardening Tasks – Pests & Diseases

When pruning, take the opportunity to examine branches for signs of disease. Small cankers, die-back, and rotten, hollow stumps at the centre of old shrub bases, are best removed early on, before they spread.

Garden hygiene helps prevent pests and disease being carried over from one year to the next. Rake up and destroy (do not compost) any affected leaves. Diseases such as black spot on roses, leaf blight on quince, and scab on apples and pears can all be partially controlled in this way.

 

Mid October in the Garden – final thoughts

There so many tasks for Mid October in the garden that sometimes I feel the list is longer than the one that appears round about April. But there is more to gardening than ‘getting things done’.

In a garden, there you should always make time to stand still and observe. That is probably the best way to understand how your garden works, by watching how it manages without you; by seeing how the things you do affect not only the plant you’ve pruned, but those around it.

Your garden has something new to show you in each season. It will be different this autumn than it was last autumn.

Yes, perform those gardening tasks, but remember there is always another secret that your garden will share with you. That isn’t just a mess of twigs and leaves in the corner. It’s a habitat for a host of small creatures, many of which you will want in your garden.

For more on enjoying your mid October garden, why not download our eBook “In Your Autumn Garden”?

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.

Albert Schweitzer

 

Related Gardening Blogs from the award winning Plews Potting Shed

Why do leaves fall? And other Autumn Gardening Questions
Autumn Gardening Tasks – Lifting Perennial Tubers
Pumpkins, Halloween and the Three Sisters Garden
Autumn Gardening Tasks – Herbaceous Perennials
Easy Maintenance Edible Gardens