Garden Tasks For October

The garden tasks for October are piling up, plants and the weeds are busy growing in the garden this month.

Here are some tasks I will be completing in my garden.

• The weeds are growing thick and fast. I am spending as much time as possible in removing the weeds before they go to flower and seed. As I weed each area I mulch the area thoroughly to help slow down regrowth of weeds. This mulch will also help the soil retain moisture levels too.

• All of our spring bulbs are starting to come to an end of flowering. The Spring bulb flowering season started with the Jonquils, then Daffodils, then the Snow flakes and now the Muscari (Grape Hyacinths) and Blue Bells are flowering. It is best to allow the leaves of these bulbs to age naturally (die back) in the garden however I have been removing the dead flower heads to prevent them from going to seed. This will allow the plants to redirect their energy back into strengthening the existing bulbs for next year’s blooms. Leaving the foliage to die off naturally will also help strengthen the existing bulbs.

• With the higher temperatures irrigation systems need to be increased and or turned on. This is also a good time to check the water to your potted plants. The frequency at which you water these will need to increase.

• I have removed most of the citrus fruit from our trees so we can start completing a light prune to shape. We will also be feeding our trees with Gyganic from Neutrog.

• Continue to pick spring flowering annuals such as Sweet Peas to encourage the plants to produce more flowers. The more you the pick the more flowers will be produced.

• I’ve taken hardwood cuttings of my Hydrangeas to propagate a few of my favourite varieties. Some of these I have potted up in soil and others I have set up in vases of water.

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• Topics:

• Gardening