All the Yard and Garden Work You Should Do in October
October can be a strange month. Even as early fall approaches summer temperatures again, you can tell the season has changed. If light frosts have not yet arrived, the threat of their occurrence is in the air every morning. I spend most of October rushing to gather up whatever is left in the garden and trying to complete all the yard infrastructure tasks to get everything nice and tidy before the cold weather really sets in. Use rain breaks to get your tasks off your mind. your list.
Think about the lawn
Once daytime temperatures reach 60 degrees or below, it’s time to stop mowing. Be careful because continuing to trim after the speed has slowed or when it has become too cold can cause real harm. Also make sure you don’t cut it too short or it will become too exposed this winter and could also kill it. Two inches of growth keeps your lawn healthy, which means pollinators and other friendly yard insects will have a place to stay for the winter.
This is the best time to plant new lawns or lawn mixtures with clover and other perennials. Because of the rain, it’s ideal to keep the seeds moist, but you need to do this before temperatures drop below 60, so do it now. Use lawn mulch to insulate the seeds and protect them from birds.
Now when it rains, you can pause watering for the winter. Drain or blow out sprinklers , hoses and other watering fixtures and store them for the winter. Purchase an insulating cover for the pipes.
Plant all the bulbs and hardy flowers.
You can continue to plant bulbs as long as the ground is workable, but you can start your spring flower attack now. My advice is to take all the bulbs out of the bags and walk around the yard, placing them where you like them to see how they clump together, then come back and plant them. You still have time to place your order , but you will receive it soon.
It’s also time to make room by removing faded annual flowers so you can place flowering kale, violas and other winter flowers .
Although you don’t want to remove perennial plants, now is the time to remove them. For winter, cut artichokes to about eight inches, and the same goes for fennel and all perennial flowers. I like to leave behind flowers that seem to have real staying power late into the season, such as African marigolds, cosmos and zinnias.
Call it a cessation in the summer vegetable beds.
Trust me, I understand our devotion to the last tomatoes, the peppers you know will turn color, and the promise of the last summer squash. But it’s time to bring everything you can inside, let them ripen and clear the beds for the winter. If that means composting them and planning your fall garden, bring them in. Place the garlic seeds and cover them with a metal cloth to keep the squirrels out all winter. If you are going to use a cover crop, plant it now. Either way, mulch, mulch, mulch. Remember that you can use leaves as mulch , and if you do this instead of shredding or raking them, you will preserve all the places where beneficial animals hide for the winter.
Save everything from the rain
If you’re like me, things start piling up outside during the summer. Sunny, warm, accessible. However, when it starts to rain, it’s time to gather up your tools, blankets and various gardening items and put them all inside where they will be protected from rust.
Remove umbrellas, remove cushions, and cover any furniture that needs to be covered. Consider compact bags (the kind you can vacuum out of) for various pillows, towels, and other pool items—they pack them in nicely.
Think about the birds
It’s time to think about our feathered friends. Can you reasonably commit to keeping your bird feeders clean this winter? This means they need to be removed and sterilized regularly to avoid spreading disease to the birds. Remember, birds don’t need our feeders; they do just fine on their own. If you can commit to it, keep your feeders (and bird baths) really clean, and then set yourself a regular cleaning schedule for the season so you can enjoy the view from your windows.