What To Do In The Garden In October

“October again… and the dews so heavy that the fields glisten like cloth of silver.” How very true, and not just the fields either. Both our orchard and garden in October are positively soggy. Still, at least I’m not having to spend an hour every other day watering everything, so that cloth definitely has a silver lining. And we’ve had some lovely warm days too during the last couple of weeks. Welcome to this month’s garden update, let’s take a look at what we’re enjoying, as well as what to do in your October garden.

What To Do In The Garden In October

As usual, I’m breaking down my monthly garden update into sections: flowers, vegetables, fruits, jobs, wildlife, including my favourite October gardening tips. Please feel free to skip down to whatever you’re most interested in, depending on what things to do in your garden in October you’re most keen to know about.

The Flower Garden in October

Annuals

Annuals are plants that grow from seed, flower, set seed, and then die, all within one year. At this time of year, we have very few annuals left in bloom but here are some that are still giving us joy. Including the beautiful Cosmos in pots at the front of our house and the wildflowers in the wheelbarrow, a happy result of broadcast sowing a box of wildflower seed earlier this year. Tip: “broadcast sowing” is the technical term for chucking seed down any old where when you’re fed up with seed trays and pots.

The pretty pink Malva, or Mallow, self-seeded from her parent plant last year is nearly over, as are the glorious Claret Sunflowers* which were absolutely humming with bees from dawn to dusk during the summer. Rather than deadhead these though, I’ll leave all the seedheads in place for the birds to feed on.

Perennials

Perennials are plants and shrubs that die back in Winter and come back again the following year. We have plenty of these great value garden essentials, mainly because they require so little effort for such a prolific output, and it’s time for me to look at lifting and dividing some of them now. Tip: dividing herbaceous perennials helps those plants that have become congested as well as giving you new plants for free. Such as our Japanese Anemones who are beginning to take over their respective beds.

With the exception of our Spanish Lavender, all our other Lavenders have finished flowering, so I’ve cut them back to just above some new green growth. And I’ll do the same to the legions of purple Verbena Bonariensis in the flower beds soon. Verbena Bonariensis are hardy, drought tolerant, and repeat flowering if lightly pruned, they’re brilliant for splashes of colour and pollinators love them.

More vivid October garden colour is coming from my gorgeous Penhill Watermelon dahlia with her dinner plate sized pink flowers (this month’s cover picture). As well as the Chinese Plumbago (Ceratostigma Willmottianum) with her cobalt blue flowers and the cheerful little red Cyclamen in our borders. Both should keep giving us jewel-bright blooms into November at least.

Asters with their daisy-like flowers are also Autumn-flowering stalwarts, like the mauve Aster Frikartii Monch, the classic Michaelmas daisy, and her glorious dark purple Aster sisters.

Salvias are also great plants for borders as they’re hardy, drought tolerant, and repeat flowering if lightly pruned. Keep dead heading them to encourage fresh flowers and they should last until the first frosts. Tip: now is a good time to take cuttings to make new plants for free.

My favourite Hydrangea by the front door is beginning to take on a mottled Autumnal look, slowly turning from brilliant white to a speckled pink. And our Astrantias are giving repeat flowerings of gorgeous starry blooms.

Other star-like flowers come from a single flower on one of our Osteospermums (African Daisy) and from our Clerodendrum Bungei. I first saw a Clerodendrum in Cornwall a couple of years ago, with a Hummingbird Hawk Moth ALL over it, which is why I wanted to grow one in our garden. Fingers crossed for next Summer!

Cooler purple tones brightening up some of the shadier parts of our garden in October come from the pretty little Geranium Nodosum and the scented Phlox by one of our smaller ponds.

Although Buddleia is often referred to as the butterfly bush, the nickname of Whirling Butterflies suits the beautiful, delicate Gaura Lindheimeri much better. Don’t you think her fluttering blooms look just like little butterflies? And the elegant white spires of the Persicaria have their own graceful beauty too.

Two of our Roses are flowering again, providing a fragrant and colourful display. Tip: it’s time to prune climbing roses and rambling roses, but only if they’ve finished flowering for the year. That said, I’m going to leave some of the hard-to-reach rosehips in place for the birds. Also, because last year I fell off the ladder while pruning rose hips, straight into a rose bush, and have no desire to repeat the experience…

It’s not all about the blooms though, when flowers go over their seed heads can be structural beauties too. Like the delicate papery seedheads of Lunaria (Honesty) and the fierce spikiness of the Teazels. Both remind me of my childhood as my mother would spray them gold for Christmas decorations. Actually, if anything stayed still long enough, it got sprayed or covered in sticky back Fablon, but that’s a whole other blog post…

Lastly, here are some of our Grasses, which are fabulous for giving a garden structure, as well as being very hardy and drought tolerant. And a thriving colony of self-seeded Ferns underneath Flora’s trampoline in the orchard.

The Vegetable Garden in October

My first experiment with Companion Planting in our new vegetable bed yielded masses of Courgettes* and French Beans* although not as many Sweetcorn* as I’d hoped for. We’ve still got a few baby Courgettes, but I don’t think they’ll come to anything now, it’s too late in the growing season. The French Beans I cut down at the end of last month, leaving their roots in the ground to add nitrogen to the soil. And our Lettuces* have bolted (gone to seed and become bitter) now, so I’ll pull them up shortly.

We still have a LOT of Rainbow Chard* and Carrots* left to harvest though – both are hardier and can withstand the odd frost, fortunately.

Our Tomatoes are long since over, and I’ve cleared out the greenhouse and put the shelf racks back in, ready for our tender plants and seedlings to shelter on over Winter. I’ve left the Tomatoes’ Plant Halos* outside for the rain to wash clean before I store them, ready for next year.

Meanwhile, over in our kitchen garden or potager garden (where you grow herbs in among your flowers, fruits, and vegetables), our edible blue Borage (great in ice cubes) and clove-spiced Cornflowers are still blooming happily.

And our Bay and Lemon Verbena are also cropping well. Lemon Verbena makes delicious tea, although she won’t survive the first frosts, so we’re enjoying her while we can. Then I’ll cut a few bunches, tie them together, and hang them somewhere warm to dry so we can still enjoy the fragrance.

The Fruit Garden in October

Over in our orchard, our Pears are ready for harvesting. They’re sweet and creamy, perfect with a slice of Stilton or Gorgonzola. Tip: you’ll know when they’re ripe if you gently lift them, twist their stems a couple of times, and they come away easily. Our Figs however aren’t going to ripen, so I’ll need to pull off all the large fruits and leave the tiny pea-sized ones to develop for harvesting next Autumn. Last month I came across this tip for bottling spare Figs in vodka. Having already got 4 litres of Damson Vodka on the go, I think we’ll be having a very merry Christmas this year…

Amazingly, we have a few full-sized Strawberries ready to harvest, alongside fruits on our little Physalis, or Cape Gooseberry. The green casing has turned brown and the orange fruits inside are delicious. Tip: this was a “Reduced Plants” find and nearly dead. I soaked her in a bucket of water for 48 hours, potted her on, and she’s very happy in her pot now. She’s a tender plant, so I’ll bring her inside our conservatory to overwinter safely very soon.

And we’re leaving all the gazillions of Grapes on our grapevine for the birds, as well as all the little Potentilla Indica (Mock Strawberry) fruits. These plants have self-seeded ALL around the garden  – apparently you can use the fruit in jam and jelly, or raw in salads, and the leaves can used herbal tea. But the fruits don’t taste of anything much, and I have more than enough herbs for tea already!

Gardening Jobs To Do in October

Gardening in October is a continual merry-go-round of dead heading to encourage any late blooms, cutting back any dead stems, and weeding those stubborn perennial weeds. Now’s a good time to do this, before they set seed, and when the soil’s damp so their roots come out more easily. And it’s also a great time for harvesting seeds for new plants. Tip: when they’re dry, cut or shake them carefully into paper envelopes (never plastic), label each envelope, and then store until you’re ready to sow them. Do leave some seeds in situ for hungry birds though.

Last month I mentioned I had a few hundred Spring flowering bulbs to plant this Autumn, including Crocuses, Tete-a-Tetes, Muscari, and Iris Reticulata. As usual, I’m way behind and haven’t planted even one yet. But bulbs are brilliant, swathes of colour for almost zero outlay – what’s not to love?

Alan is still having to cut the grass, thanks to the mild start to the month. And we’re leaving the section behind the greenhouse and vegetable beds alone, so the baby frogs can continue migrating in peace. Seriously, how cute are they though?

Fallen leaves collecting is in full swing. Not only to allow light to get to the grass and avoid brown patches, we also split the hauls between our compost bins and biodegradable leaf sacks* to rot down into leaf mould. This makes fabulous and free soil conditioner for your garden plants. Although we’ll still leave a few leaf piles in corners of the orchard, for the hedgehogs to have somewhere to hibernate safely. And if you’re making bonfire piles, PLEASE check for hibernating animals before you light any fires.

Lastly, a reminder to bring any tender plants (such as Pelargoniums), in out of the frost. Tip: before you do, cut them back and use the cuttings to grow some new plants for free.

Our pelargoniums will eventually overwinter in our conservatory again, alongside the Physalis (Cape Gooseberry). Other plants, such as our Fuchsias I’ll move into our greenhouse – here’s hoping this Winter isn’t as bad as the last one…

October Gardening for Wildlife

Alan is keeping our garden bird feeders topped up with quality wild bird food* and high energy fat balls* on a daily basis, to build up the birds’ strength before Winter. The beautiful metal bird feeder on the right is no good for this time of year though – when it rains, water collects in the bowl and then the seeds start sprouting! We’ll stick to our plastic tubes instead.

All our ponds are still home to lots of frogs and newts – much to our cats’ fascination. And the water levels are high enough for wildlife to drink, with stones and vegetation for them to crawl up if they fall in too. If you’re looking for ways to encourage and support wildlife, here are some easy tips to make your garden more wildlife friendly.

Our Garden in October

And that’s the end of my tenth garden post of 2023 – it’ll soon be time for Christmas! I hope you enjoyed my garden round up, and found it a useful reminder of jobs to do in your garden in October. Next month, in my November garden update, unless we get an unexpected Indian Summer, we should be putting the finishing touches on getting our garden ready for Winter.

What did you like best about your virtual visit to our orchard and garden in October? Did you pick up any helpful tips? What have you been enjoying your outside space this month?

* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).