October Gardening Tips:

 

-When raking leaves, do your best to remove or burn any that have fallen from a diseased tree or shrub. This will help prevent the further spread of disease. Compost leaves from healthy plants.

 

-Fall is planting season! Plant trees, shrubs, evergreens & perennials during the fall.

Plant spring flowering bulbs now

-As the temperature cools, plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips and daffodils. Intermix them in your perennial beds. October is a great time to plant spring flowering bulbs. If you did not plant them last month, there is still time. The earlier they are planted, the better the chances that they will develop substantial root systems before soil temperatures get too low.

 

Once the ground has started to freeze, apply a light mulch to the later planted bulbs. This may prevent the ground from freezing and allow the bulbs to root better.

 

-Cut back faded perennials and collect seeds from your favorites. It’s ok to leave some of your perennials to go through winter. They’ll add interest and feed the birds.

 

-It’s not too late to move geraniums indoors for the winter. Save only the best, cleanest plants. If you don’t have a bright, cool place to grow them indoors, simply knock the soil off the roots and cut the tops back so that they fit in a brown paper grocery bag. Hang them in a cool place in the basement or storage until spring.

 

-Finish cleaning up the garden. Chop up the old plants and spread them over the garden. Make good use of fallen tree leaves to improve the soil in your garden. Any kind of organic matter will improve the soil, whether it is heavy clay or sand. Spade the organic matter into the garden. Leave the soil rough so that winter rains and frost will mellow it. The freezing and thawing make the soil friable in spring.

Herbs

-Dig up parsley, chive, rosemary, thyme, basil oregano, sage and any other herb you may need for the winter. Shake off as much soil as you can and pot them using artificial potting soil. Garden soil will not work in pots. Herbs can grow under the lights until you need them for planting. Or set them in a cool, bright window and clip off sprigs as you need them.

Houseplants

-Houseplants: More houseplants are killed by overwatering than by drying out. Be very careful about watering. Unless the plants' wilt, they have sufficient water. If they begin to wilt, check that the pot is dry, not too wet. Drowning plants wilt, too.

 

-Houseplants Fall: Continue to shape and trim your plants as long as they are growing. Be cautious about trimming flowering plants so that the flower buds are not removed.

 

-Houseplants: Brown tips on leaves are caused by repeated drying or by excess salts or fluorides in the water.

-Perennial garden: Continue pulling out stakes and removing cages as the plants finish for the year. Clean them and store them where you can locate them next spring.

 

-Perennial pruning: As the plants finish blooming and foliage begins to ripen, cut them to the ground. Dispose of them in the compost pile or chop them up and spread them on the vegetable garden to be spaded in later.

Shrub roses

-Fall is planting time for trees and shrubs, including shrub roses. These plants are more like flowering shrubs than like the demanding hybrid tea-type roses.

To plant shrub roses:

-Prepare the soil by spading and incorporating organic matter.

-Dig planting holes twice as wide and as deep as the containers.

-Knock the plants out of the containers, slice circling roots and set plants at the

same depth that they grew in the containers.

-Backfill halfway with soil, fill the hole with water and replace the rest of the soil.

-Soak the soil to settle it.

 

NOTE:  Any of our sales associates here at Breezy Hill Nursery would be happy to answer your questions about planting and caring for your tree.  Call us at (262) 537-2111.

Do you have Gardening questions? Please call or stop by our garden center.

You might also enjoy this post about common landscaping questions or this HGTV post about Fall Gardening.