Garden work in October

Autumn is now advanced, October the tenth month of the year surprises us with the unpredictable autumn rains and the warm colors of the first dry golden leaves.

The first thing to remember is that already towards the middle of the month it is good take potted plants that are not resistant to frost to shelter: prefer an unheated internal environment with good brightness.

You can build cold or temperate greenhouses, taking great care to air them often, building at least one window that will be convenient for air exchanges. If, inside the greenhouse, the temperatures increase significantly, your plants risk being attacked by insects and fungal diseases; remember that even in the winter months the temperature in the greenhouse can reach 30°C due to prolonged sunlight.
Start reducing watering, even for terrace plants, as everything starts to approach vegetative rest and will have minimal use of its energy.

Lawn maintenance

From October it is no longer necessary to mow the lawn: a couple of cuts are more than enough. Furthermore, the height of the grass must be increased compared to the last few times: at the end of the month it should be around 3.5-4 centimetres. Find all the necessary equipment on dedicated section of our e-shop.

The last one fertilization of the autumn season must be carried out at the end of October, with a organic fertilizer (and not chemical): in fact, the nutritional elements are used to produce new vegetation and to release mineral substances that will be available in spring. You can find these fertilizers in section of our online shop.

Furthermore, do not forget to aerate the soil in order to facilitate the drainage of water: you can use a fork with long teeth or an electric scarifier, depending on the size of the lawn. Once the treatment is finished, to fill the empty spaces left by the tools, distribute a layer of sandy-based soil.

You can consider reseeding the lawn to fill the gaps or to thicken it, in fact, the autumn rains are of great help in making the seeds germinate in the best possible way.

The first leaves begin to fall and, after having collected them, you can think of a different use for them: for example you can make a fertilizer following composting, (beech leaves are highly recommended) or you can save them for winter protective mulch for plants more sensitive to low temperatures, perhaps fixing the leaves with a fine mesh net.

Plants and flowers, flowerbeds and bushes

Remove wilted summer plants and feed some more fertilizer to winter flowering varieties.

It’s an ideal time to plant rose bushes and shrubs, and to prepare your spring flowerbeds by burying the autumn bulbs: crocuses, daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, bluebells, irises, alliums, lilies, hyacinthsmuscari: you’re spoiled for choice! The only advice is to choose frost-resistant planters, as the flowers can only be admired in spring. I invite you to read previous articles on the subject to find out more!

Your garden may appear a little dull and for this reason you can enrich it with compositions of annual autumn plants, such as violets, cabbages and heathers, preferring pot cultivation, so that you can easily move them to shelter when temperatures drop.

Throughout the month it is possible:

• separate i bulbils from the mother bulb and place them in a pot or in a new home in the substrate;
• use the cuttings of some ornamental plants to give life to new flowers and plants: cuttings of roses, climbing plants such as bougainvillea, camellias and hydrangeas. The cuttings will then be inserted into the soil at a depth of a couple of centimeters, after having immersed them in rooting hormone. Read how to do it.
  

The vegetable garden and fruit trees

If you haven’t done so at Septemberin the month of October it is now necessary for you to finish harvesting the summer vegetables and, already thinking about next spring, clean the flowerbeds thoroughly. All crop residues must be eliminated: throw them in the compost heap if you have one.

In the month of October, different varieties of apples ripen and the harvest of late varieties of figs, raspberries, pears and grapes continues. The walnut harvest also ends and the last peppers and tomatoes are harvested.
It’s time to go for mushrooms and chestnuts!

If you have a home vegetable garden, it is likely that, due to obvious temperature issues, you will have to prepare the soil in protected flowerbeds or in pots to be placed on the balcony for example. The choice is wide: you can sow carrots, fennel, savoy cabbage, peas, turnip greens, broad beans, radishes, beetroot, chard, endive, lettuce… and also: parsley, spinach and radicchio, rocket, escarole, lettuce and lamb’s lettuce. Look at all our seeds!

Waning Moon: from 1 October to 12 October and from 30 October to 31 October

Waxing moon: from October 13th to October 29th