No other month has the capacity for change like October. As temperatures start to drop, many of us begin preparing our gardens for the winter ahead. A good place to start in our October gardening jobs is by clearing away the decaying vegetation from the summer and beginning to tackle the annual autumn tidy-up. Time to roll up the sleeves!
Essential gardening checklist for October
- Lawn care – the best spring lawns start in autumn
- Give your flowers and borders some TLC and replenish your soil
- Bulb planting for spring displays
- Start on a project such as making a leaf mould bin, building a log pile, or moving a shed
- Operation clean up; sweep patios, clean decking, guttering, and pipes
- Give the garden tools a good scrub and organise the shed
- Clear weeds from driveways, gravel, and paths
- Feed the birds
Lawn Care
October is a key month for preparing your lawn for the colder months ahead. As temperatures drop and daylight hours shorten, grass growth slows down, but your lawn still needs care to stay healthy and strong through winter. One of the main tasks this month is clearing fallen leaves regularly to prevent them from smothering the grass. Using a sturdy leaf rake can make this job much quicker and help prevent the build-up of moss and thatch. It’s also a good time to mow your lawn a little shorter than during the summer, but not too short, around 2.5–3 cm is ideal to reduce the risk of fungal diseases while still protecting the roots.
October is also perfect for aerating and scarifying your lawn. Aeration helps relieve soil compaction and allows air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots, while scarifying removes dead grass, moss, and thatch, encouraging fresh growth.
If your lawn has bare patches, this is the time to overseed. Gro-Sure Smart Seed Fast Start is a hard-wearing blend that is perfect for over-seeding tired grass or filling in bare patches, and is best for sowing early and late season as the seed germinates at 7 degrees soil temperature. Each seed is coated with Aqua Gel technology, which absorbs up to 400x its weight in water and slowly releases it back when needed for better germination.
If you aren’t overseeding, give it a good feed with a high-potash autumn lawn feed like Aftercut All In One Autumn to strengthen the grass for winter. Don’t forget to keep watering if it’s dry; lawns still need moisture to stay resilient. With these simple October lawn care tasks, you’ll set your grass up for a healthy start next spring.
Flowers and Borders
Now is a great time of year to plant bareroot roses and shrubs into beds and borders to help improve their shape. Choose plenty of evergreen shrub varieties to add interest all year round, and make sure you use a specialist compost to really give the plants the best start.
Tidy borders, removing any poorly placed or tender plants such as Begonias, Dahlias, and Cannas, drying them out to store over winter before the first frosts get a chance to bite!
After the borders are tidy, try spreading a thick layer of mulch or bark chips across the area. Don’t worry about digging in, as the worms will do the hard work for you. Find out which bark or mulch is best for your garden here.
Bulb Planting for Spring Displays
October is the perfect time to get ahead for a colourful spring garden by planting spring-flowering bulbs such as crocuses, daffodils, and hyacinths. Choose a well-drained spot in your borders or flowerbeds, and plant the bulbs at a depth of about three times their height. For the best results, use a specialist bulb compost like Westland Bulb Planting & Potting Mix, which provides essential nutrients and ensures good drainage to help bulbs establish strong roots before winter.
After planting, water the bulbs thoroughly to help them settle into the soil. Bulbs planted in October will develop roots over the colder months and emerge in spring with a vibrant display. Mixing different types of bulbs and planting at varying depths can also create a layered, natural effect for your borders.
Making a leaf mould bin
Make life easier for yourself; rather than bagging leaves, why not create a leaf bin that you can use year after year? The leaves will eventually rot down to a leaf mould, which can then be used for soil improvement or mulching for shrubs.
Depending on the amount of leaves you are regularly raking, you can make the bin as little or as large as you require.
Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to make your own:
- Shape some weed-smothering membrane into a square shape, lining the base of your leaf bin. This will stop roots and weeds from muscling in and destroying your leaf mould.
- The next step is to hammer four wooden fencing stakes into the ground around your lining.
- After your posts are in place, wrap some coated or galvanised chicken wire around your frame, fixing it together with some twine or wire.
- Finally, fill your bin; it may be worthwhile stirring your bin every few months to merge any still, dry leaves into the damper part in the middle of the bin.
Operation Clean Up
To clean up outdoor spaces, use Resolva Xtra Clean Ready To Use Patio Power Clean. This ready to use formula will remove green algae, mould, and black spot from patios, garden furniture, outdoor toys, and more, and will protect them for up to 9 months. Simply spray and leave, and within one week you will see results.
Clear weeds from driveways, gravel, and paths
Gravel paths and driveways add curb appeal to any home. However, weeds can be a problem here, spoiling the look of all your hard work and money. Options such as hand weeding can be quite time-consuming, while digging can lead to damage, and often the weed will reappear anyway.
For fast action with very little effort, try Resolva Pro Xtra Tough Weedkiller. It kills perennial and tough weeds from Brambles to Japanese Knotweed, Dandelions to Thistles. Resolva Pro kills the weed right down to the root.
Garden Tools
Give your tools and garden shed a tidy. Dirty gardening tools could be spreading disease from an infected plant to a healthy one. Preventing the buildup of dirt and plant materials will ensure their longevity and help you get the most out of your tools.
Gardman Double Hooks are ideal for keeping your tools off the ground. Hang your tools up in your shed to create more space and keep them clean.
Feed the birds
If you aren’t already feeding the birds in your garden, now is the time to start. Essential for October gardening jobs. Consider putting up bird feeders around your garden to help out wild birds during the colder months.
Did you know that birds can lose up to 10% of their weight overnight during very cold temperatures?
For hassle-free bird feeding, try the refillable Peckish Complete Easy Feeder, pre-filled and ready to use. They are suitable for hanging on a tree or placing at a Peckish Complete Dining Station.
Seasonal visitors
Wrapping up the month is Halloween on the 31st! If you decide to build a bonfire, think about an escape route for any small animals that may have made their way inside. Particularly if you have been building the bonfire over a period of time. Also, it’s best to surround the bonfire with a wire fence to stop small creatures from gaining access to it.
While the kids are busy trick-or-treating, spare a thought for the small animals that could do with a treat before they go into hibernation. Many small animals that survive by feeding on invertebrate life often struggle this time of year as it becomes difficult for them to find insects and other small creatures.
Hedgehogs particularly struggle with this and will spend weeks building up fat reserves before going into hibernation. It’s these fat reserves, plus the slower metabolism, that allow it to survive through long winters.
With numbers declining, help the fight to save these small animals by giving them a Gardman Hedgehog House to live in and treat them to Gardman Hedgehog Bites.
